I am a student at the University of Vermont studying the perceptions of the influence of the family in relation to eldercare of caregivers and family members of the elderly. It is my hope that in understanding this first-hand perspective, the information can be practically applied in a way that facilitates the improved care of the elderly, and therefore their well-being.
While I had initially intended to meet with and interview the elderly themselves in person at eldercare facilities, I am no longer able to do that as a result of COVID-19. Considering that under our current circumstances I am unable to conduct research this way, I turned to online public caregiver forums with the hope that learning from caregivers and family members of the elderly would provide a complementary perspective that will serve to contextualize the topic of my study.
I understand that this may not be an ideal setting for this study, however, if any caregiver or family member comes across this post and is able and willing to offer any insight into the complex relationships among care recipients, caregivers, and family members, I hope to hear from you!
I wanted to be inclusive of family caregivers and that is why I had initially addressed family caregivers in the question, however, I believe it just made the question more confusing. This question is not addressed to any caregiver in particular, just caregivers in general!
Are you looking at the "caregivers" being hired from the outside and how do these employees effect the family dinamics?
On this forum the Caregivers "are" family members taking care of, usually, a parent/parents. Occasionally a member will ask how to deal with a hired Caregiver but mostly its family taking care of family. We have very few agency or private paid Caregivers post.
You will need to read the postings. Caregiving is hard. A lot of the time its Senior children taking care of Senior parents. You will see grandchildren taking care of grandparents. People leave jobs to care for a LO only to find that their future is going to be effected. It is one child doing all the caregiving while siblings do what they want. When Dementia/Alzhemiers is involved it causes other problems.
Caregivers on this forum have different situations. Different family dynamics. We just try to support each other and help with problems.
Is this what ur looking for?
If you interview only older persons who are resident at a facility, you are going to get a limited and in some ways rather distorted perspective. You will be missing the bulk of the iceberg.
Why not bowl us some chapter headings and see what answers you get?