The Lived Experience of Spouses as Informal Caregivers for Patients with Severe Sleep Apnea

Location

3030

Format Type

Event

Start Date

January 2016

End Date

January 2016

Abstract

Background: Spouses are increasingly being asked to perform complex tasks similar to those carried out by paid health care providers, often at great cost to their own well-being and great benefit to their relatives and society as a whole. The public health significance of caregiving has spawned extensive literature in this area, much of it focused on dementia, Alzheimer’s, or cancer caregiving, but there is limited literature of caregiving related to sleep disorders such as severe sleep apnea.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study using the phenomenology was to explore the lived experience of spouses as informal caregiver for patients with severe sleep apnea (OSAS).

Philosophical Underpinning: This qualitative study was based on Hermeneutic Phenomenology.

Methods: A purposive sample of 14 participants, all of whom were spouses of patients with severe sleep apnea, was selected to explore the overarching question: What is the lived experience of spouses as informal caregiver of severe sleep apnea patients? Data collection occurred from semi-structured interviews that were tape-recorded, transcribed for verification, and member checked. Data analysis included describing, interpreting, and textual writing as guided by van Manen.

Results: Themes of similar categories were identified using interpretive methods. The analysis revealed themes that clustered into six groups, which served to organize the themes in a meaningful way around various aspects of the participants' experiences. The emerging themes were Unknowing, Monitoring, Learning, Depriving, Overwhelming, and Escaping

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The Lived Experience of Spouses as Informal Caregivers for Patients with Severe Sleep Apnea

3030

Background: Spouses are increasingly being asked to perform complex tasks similar to those carried out by paid health care providers, often at great cost to their own well-being and great benefit to their relatives and society as a whole. The public health significance of caregiving has spawned extensive literature in this area, much of it focused on dementia, Alzheimer’s, or cancer caregiving, but there is limited literature of caregiving related to sleep disorders such as severe sleep apnea.

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study using the phenomenology was to explore the lived experience of spouses as informal caregiver for patients with severe sleep apnea (OSAS).

Philosophical Underpinning: This qualitative study was based on Hermeneutic Phenomenology.

Methods: A purposive sample of 14 participants, all of whom were spouses of patients with severe sleep apnea, was selected to explore the overarching question: What is the lived experience of spouses as informal caregiver of severe sleep apnea patients? Data collection occurred from semi-structured interviews that were tape-recorded, transcribed for verification, and member checked. Data analysis included describing, interpreting, and textual writing as guided by van Manen.

Results: Themes of similar categories were identified using interpretive methods. The analysis revealed themes that clustered into six groups, which served to organize the themes in a meaningful way around various aspects of the participants' experiences. The emerging themes were Unknowing, Monitoring, Learning, Depriving, Overwhelming, and Escaping