Material
Changes in Marital Relationships During the Process of Spouses Caring for a Husband/Wife Diagnosed With Dementia in Their Own Home: A Modified Grounded Theory Approach
2025 Volume 45 Pages 658-667
Details
2025 Volume 45 Pages 658-667
Objective: To describe the changes in the marital relationship of a husband/wife diagnosed with dementia up to the point at which the spouse took care of him or her at home.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with spouses who had a husband/wife diagnosed with dementia and were looked after at home; the data were analysed using the modified grounded therapy approach (M-GTA).
Results: A core category, three categories, seven subcategories, and 18 concepts were generated.
The relationship of ‘me and you’ changes to ‘you being with the illness and me adapting to you’. To maintain the relationship, I must maintain ‘myself for you’. The two-party relationship of husband and wife is maintained by becoming ‘me and you and me as the other you’. After bereavement, there is no physical you, but the ‘you’ in me continues to exist; thus, the change in relationship ends as ‘I and you in me’.
Conclusion: The study suggests the need for professionals to focus on the relationship in the process of becoming ‘you in me and me in you’, to provide multidisciplinary support to both spouses to ensure a smooth transition and good maintenance of the relationship.
