Working It Out Together: Family Caregivers' Perceptions of Relationship-Building With In-Home Service Providers
Négocier un terrain d'entente : les perceptions des soignants membres de la famille sur la dynamique des relations avec les prestataires de services de santé à domicile

Authors: Gantert, Thomas W.; McWilliam, Carol L.; Ward-Griffin, Catherine; Allen, Natalie

Source: CJNR (Canadian Journal of Nursing Research), Volume 41, Number 3, September 2009 , pp. 44-63(20)

Publisher: McGill School of Nursing

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Abstract:

Provision of in-home services to seniors involves the contributions of numerous professional and paraprofessional health-care providers but is largely dependent upon the involvement of caregiver networks consisting of friends and family members. Therefore, in-home provider/family caregiver relationships have become an essential component of care provision. However, evidence suggests that provider/family caregiver interactions often are lacking or are ambiguous and characterized by tension and power struggles. The purpose of this study was to explore family caregivers' perceptions of their relationships with in-home care providers. Applying interpretive phenomenology, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of family caregivers and used an immersion/crystallization analysis strategy to elicit the findings. The findings reveal that family caregivers perceive their relationship-building with in-home providers as a dynamic process with facilitators and barriers encountered at both individual and system levels. The interpretive findings afford several insights into building provider/family caregiver relationships within the in-home context.

French
La prestation de services de santé à domicile aux personnes âgées exige la participation de nombreux professionnels et auxiliaires, mais elle dépend aussi largement de l'implication d'un réseau de soignants formé d'amis et de membres de la famille. Par conséquent, les relations entre prestataires à domicile et soignants membres de la famille constituent désormais un aspect essentiel de la prestation des soins. Les observations, toutefois, mettent en lumière des lacunes, des ambiguïtés, des tensions et des luttes de pouvoir. La présente étude avait pour but d'analyser les perceptions des soignants membres de la famille sur leurs rapports avec les prestataires de soins à domicile. Prenant appui sur la phénoménologie interprétative, les auteurs ont d'abord mené des entrevues en profondeur auprès d'un échantillon choisi à dessein constitué de soignants membres de la famille, puis employé une méthode d'analyse par immersion-cristallisation pour obtenir des données. On constate que ceux-ci conçoivent la construction du rapport avec les prestataires à domicile comme un processus dynamique, qui comporte des facteurs facilitants et des obstacles à caractère individuel et systémique. Ces facteurs d'explication permettent de mieux saisir comment se construisent les rapports entre prestataires et soignants membres de la famille dans le cadre des soins à domicile.

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Keywords: CAREGIVING; COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING; FAMILY; GERONTOLOGY; NURSE RELATIONSHIPS/PROFESSIONAL ISSUES; THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2009-09-01

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CJNR is a peer-reviewed, quarterly journal published by the McGill University School of Nursing since 1969. With world-wide circulation, CJNR's primary mandate is to publish original nursing research that develops basic knowledge for the discipline and examines the application of the knowledge in practice. Research related to education and history is also welcomed, as are methodological, theoretical, and review papers that advance nursing science. Letters or commentaries about published articles are encouraged. Learn more.
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