Prosjektets bakgrunn
The group of people, aged 80 years or more will increase, leading to issues of concerns regarding quality of care and rising healthcare costs. In this group, many will live with decreasing functional capacity, the risk of frailty, and dependency. Furthermore, many will live alone in own home relying on support from primary healthcare and informal caregivers like adult children. Pressured healthcare systems and shorter hospital length of stay mean that adult children find themselves supporting their older parent who is still unwell after discharge.
Om prosjektet
The study has a qualitative approach inspired by Reflective Lifeworld Research, drawing on phenomenology and hermeneutic philosophies. Data are generated through interviews and diaries. Participants are selected at a department of geriatric medicine using the following inclusion criteria for older persons: 1) entitled to primary healthcare, 2) aged 80+ years, 3) living alone, 4) not diagnosed with dementia, 5) have at least one adult child living nearby and taking care of his/her parent. The adult child, who is the primary caregiver according to the older parent, will be invited to participate.
Prosjektets mål
The study aims are:
- To describe insights into the phenomenon of caring responsibility from the perspectives of persons aged 80+ living alone with chronic illness, frailty, and dependency on adult children after a recent hospitalization.
- To describe insights into experiences of adult children with caring responsibility for an old chronically ill parent with frailty.
- To describe insights into older persons’ and their adult children’s experiences with caring responsibility as exercised by healthcare professionals in primary healthcare
Prosjektets tittel
Who cares? Caring responsibility from the perspectives of older, ill persons and their adult children in primary healthcare.