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Caregiving and the changing experience of leisure: A male perspective. Rebecca Genoe, MA Candidate Dalhousie University Bryan Smale, PhD University of Waterloo. Outline. Background and Rationale Purpose Methodology Findings Conclusions and Future Directions. Background and Rationale.
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Caregiving and the changing experience of leisure:A male perspective Rebecca Genoe, MA Candidate Dalhousie University Bryan Smale, PhD University of Waterloo
Outline • Background and Rationale • Purpose • Methodology • Findings • Conclusions and Future Directions
Background and Rationale • Population aging • Increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease • Caregivers are often women • Men and women have different caregiving experiences • Caregiving and Leisure • Caregiving as a leisure constraint • Role of leisure in the caregiver’s life • Changes in leisure after institutionalisation
Purpose • To examine the nature of and the impacts upon, the leisure lifestyles of men whose wives with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia have been institutionalized • To examine how male caregivers perceived their leisure time, the role of leisure in their lives, and how their leisure has changed, since moving their wives into a long term care facility
Methods • Qualitative design using a grounded theory approach • Recruitment of participants • In-depth interviews, 90 minutes in length • Data analysis – constant comparative method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990)
Findings Participants Profile – Age range – 53 to 83 years Time providing care – 5 to 16 years Length of time in LTC – 1 to 2 years
Major Themes • Sense of Responsibility • Leisure as a coping mechanism • Longing for wife and previous leisure lifestyle • Leisure apathy
Sense of Responsibility “When you’ve been married for 56 years…well at least I owe her one hour of my time per day.” - Mr. Collins “No I don’t count it work, no I don’t count it leisure… I figure its really partly commitment to her.” - Mr. Edwards
Leisure as a coping mechanism “…one thing that keeps me sane.” - Mr. Collins “…another way of getting emotions off.” - Mr. Ford “…I think in meeting with those people and in discussion groups, or something, they give you an insight, help you through your fears.” -Mr. Gibson “I felt it…a healing thing for myself, it helped me understand her…” - Mr. Ford
Longing for wife and previous leisure lifestyle “Loneliness…You know I’ve got one chair and the other chair, and I’ve caught myself a good many times, going to speak to her.” - Mr. Edwards “No, I felt no need for any activity that doesn’t involve her.” - Mr. Ford “Everything we did, we did together. I wish we could have that back, but we can’t.” - Mr. Davidson
Leisure apathy “…when you go from spending all your time with somebody except the work hours, to that person not being able to function in a relationship anymore it really, really knocks you down. So … the leisure part, basically I don’t care if I have any right now.” - Mr. Davidson “Really, the leisure time isn’t near what it was. Because I don’t like going out and running around and doing whatever. I don’t feel that I should. And I don’t want to. If she was with me, then we could go. If she could go, we’d go.” - Mr. Edwards
Conclusions • Themes consistent with previous research – sense of responsibility, coping, and longing • Leisure apathy – a male experience? • intertwined with the feelings of longing and loss, and especially the loss of the husbands’ principal leisure partner • process leading to leisure apathy? Effects on well-being?