Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.3935/rsp.v25i2.1442
The Difficulties and Benefits of Working with People with Dementia from the Perspective of Formal Caregivers
Ana Štambuk
; Studijski centar socijalnog rada, Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Kristina Levak
Sažetak
Inability to self-care in old age is often caused by various diseases. Caring for a person with dementia has been described as the most demanding form of care due to its intensity and duration. Given that currently about 47 million people suffer from this disease, the expansion of which is still expected, it can be said that dementia has a great economic impact on society as well. Due to the demands of everyday life, modern families are no longer able to adequately take care of their members, which has increased the need for formal care settings. Professional or formal caregivers are experts of different professions who daily face many challenges in custody relationships. The aim of this study was to gain an insight into the difficulties and the benefits of working with people with dementia from the perspective of formal caregivers. The qualitative study involved 15 caregivers from 4 different institutions in Zagreb with whom semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results of thematic analysis of the data showed that caregivers identified two operational problems: the lack of understanding by family members and poor organization of work. Besides, their work leads them to exhaustion and feeling of helplessness. With regard to the benefits, the results show that in addition to emotional fulfillment and an increased sense of meaning and purpose of life, caregivers perceived a personal growth and a new perspective on the elderly they gain as benefits too. In conclusion, the study shows that further systematic research on caregivers is needed in order to obtain guidelines for developing the system, which in Croatia can still be characterized as a quite inadequate one with regard to existing needs.
Ključne riječi
elderly; formal caregivers; dementia; care
Hrčak ID:
204609
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.7.2018.
Posjeta: 2.297 *