2020 Volume 23 Issue 2 Pages 43-51
This study explored the process of assistance provided by community comprehensive support center nurses to husband caregivers of wives with dementia through connecting them with community-based horizontal organizations for the purpose of abuse prevention and health maintenance.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven community comprehensive support center nurses regarding their experiences of integrating elderly husbands caring for their wives with dementia with horizontal organizations. Data were analyzed using the Trajectory Equifinality Modeling method.
The support that community comprehensive support center nurses offer husband caregivers consists of four phases: First, the nurses try to build trust with husband caregivers who have negative perception regarding the use of the service. In the second phase, the nurses intensify the relationship of trust through preparation of the care environment and direct the husband caregivers’ attention to health issues. In the third phase, the nurses support husband caregivers to take the initial steps toward participation in horizontal organizations and feel their benefits of participation. In the fourth and final phase, the nurses adjust the care environment so that husband caregivers can continue to participate in community-based horizontal organizations.
To connect husband caregivers to horizontal organizations, it was shown that the awareness of husband caregivers must be amended in stages and that appropriate support must be provided at each phase according to the wife’s situation. Moreover, the findings suggest that it is vital to foster and to publicize varied types of horizontal support organizations to suit the interests of men who perform the role of caregivers.
