Surviving and Thriving: Qualitative Results from a Multi-Year, Multidimensional Intervention to Promote Well-Being among Caregivers of Adults with Dementia

Meara H. Faw, India Luxton, Jennifer E. Cross and Deana Davalos
Additional contact information
Meara H. Faw: Department of Communication Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
India Luxton: Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Jennifer E. Cross: Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Deana Davalos: Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: (1) Introduction: Caring for an adult with dementia is both challenging and rewarding. Research indicates that community-based, social support, and/or arts engagement interventions can play a key role in ameliorating the negative outcomes associated with caregiving while enhancing its more positive attributes. This study explores the psychosocial outcomes experienced by dementia caregivers who participated in a multi-year, multidimensional intervention aimed at promoting caregiver and care recipient well-being. This intervention included bringing caregivers and people with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD) to local symphony performances, hosting a social reception prior to the performance, and assessing the outcomes of participation for both caregiver and the care recipient. (2) Materials, Methods, and Analysis: Qualitative data from participant phone interviews ( n = 55) as well as focus groups are analyzed using thematic analysis from a phenomenological perspective. (3) Results: Across three years of participation, caregivers reported three main program benefits: relationship building (both with other participants as well as within the broader community); restored humanity (experiencing a greater sense of personal dignity and momentary return to normalcy), and positivity (experiencing positive emotions during the program). (4) Discussion: These findings point to the value of creating caregiver programming that brings together multiple dimensions of successful interventions in order to enhance caregiver experiences and positive intervention outcomes.

Keywords: caregiving; dementia; psychosocial interventions; longitudinal interventions; arts engagement; social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4755/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4755/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4755-:d:546280

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().