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There's no apprenticeship for Alzheimer's: the caring relationship when an older person experiencing dementia falls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2011

ANNE MCINTYRE  and
FRANCES REYNOLDS
ANNE MCINTYRE*
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK.
FRANCES REYNOLDS
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Anne McIntyre, Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences and Social Care, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK. E-mail: anne.mcintyre@brunel.ac.uk
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Abstract

Older people experiencing dementia are twice as likely to fall with consequences of serious injury, reduction in everyday activity, admission to long-term care and mortality. Carers of people with dementia are themselves at greater risk of physical and mental ill health, which increases as the dementia progresses. Unsurprisingly, carer burden also increases when a care-recipient falls. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of falling of community-living older people with dementia and their carers. A qualitative approach was taken using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Nine older people with predominantly Alzheimer's disease and their ten carers were recruited from a large mental health National Health Service trust and participated in one-to-one and joint in-depth interviews. Three dyads participated in repeat interviews. Three focus groups were also carried out, with nine older people experiencing memory problems and 12 carers from a local Alzheimer's Society branch. The antecedents, falls events and consequences of falls were discussed. This paper reports specifically on the impact of falls on the caring relationship. Three themes emerged: ‘learning as you go’, ‘we're always together’, ‘nobody was interested’. The findings demonstrate how falling accentuates the impact of dementia on the dyad. Spouse-carers' discussion of their own falls emphasise the need for joint assessment of health and wellbeing to reduce carer burden and preserve the couplehood of the dyad.

Keywords

fallsdementiacarerspersonhoodcouplehoodinterpretative phenomenological analysis
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 32 , Issue 5 , July 2012 , pp. 873 - 896
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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