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  • Spouses who placed partners in care homes experienced emotional reactions to separation and made efforts to maintain their relationship

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Qualitative
Spouses who placed partners in care homes experienced emotional reactions to separation and made efforts to maintain their relationship

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebn.5.1.32

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    Sandberg J, Lundh U, Nolan MR.Placing a spouse in a care home: the importance of keeping.J Clin Nurs2001 May;10:406–16OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science

    QUESTION: What are the experiences of family carers after placing a spouse in a care home?

    Design

    Grounded theory.

    Setting

    A municipality in southern Sweden.

    Participants

    12 spouses {8 wives and 4 husbands}* who had placed a partner in a care home within the past 6–12 months.

    Methods

    In semistructured interviews, participants were asked about their experiences after admitting a spouse to a care home. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. Constant comparison was used to elaborate on the themes derived from a previous set of interviews, particularly the processes of separation and continuity in maintaining relationships (“keeping”).

    Main findings

    The process of separation included 4 elements: pretending, dawning, putting on a brave face, and seeking solace. Pretending involved the carers convincing themselves that their spouse's admission to a care home was simply a trial separation and was not permanent. Dawning referred to the growing awareness …

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    Footnotes

    • Sources of funding: Swedish Foundation for Health Care Sciences and Allergy Research and Vårdal Foundation.

    • For correspondence:Mr J Sandberg, Department of Neuroscience and Locomotion, Division of Geriatrics, Linköping University, S-581 85 Linköping, Sweden. jonassandberg{at}mail.bip.net