Wysheid as psigofortigene konstruk in die versorging van pasiënte met Alzheimer se siekte

[摘要] English: Alzheimer's disease has a great impact on both the patient and his/her caregiver. This study described Alzheimer's disease, as well as the impact it has on the caregiver of the patient suffering from Dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). The question arises however, why some caregivers cope in these impoverishing circumstances, and sometimes even flourish despite the challenge set by taking care of a DAT patient. The same questions are asked in the field of 'salutogenesis' and 'psychofortogenesis', that forms part of positive psychology and that are concerned with what keeps a human being strong and healthy despite the stressors they face.The purpose of this study was in the first place to determine the value of wisdom as a potential fortogenic construct in the handling of the care giving of patients with Alzheimer's disease. In the second place the study aimed to describe the potential development of wisdom in the care giving process. A group of nine female caregivers who cared for their spouses diagnosed with DAT formed part of this study in order to address these goals. These caregivers' spouses have all passed away, and they attended Alzheimer's support groups in Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, or Vanderbijlpark. Interviews that were aimed at identifying wisdom related behaviour in the caregivers were administered by means of the guidelines set by the 'Berlin Wisdom Paradigm' (BWP). Pre-existing interviews and diary material that was attained from the Potgieter (2002) study was also utilized in this study in order to address the set goals.Although this study was mainly of a qualitative nature, quantitative questionnaires were also used in order to verify the qualitative findings. These quantitative questionnaires are the following: the Satisfaction with life scale (Diener, Emmonds, Larson & Griffin, 1985), the Sense of Coherence questionnaire (Antonovsky, 1987, 1993) and the Fortitude questionnaire (Pretorius, 1998). A Further goal for this study was to determine the efficacy of the BWP in conceptualising the construct wisdom, specifically with regard to the Alzheimer caregiver. The unstructured interviews was analysed qualitatively to address this goal by using the grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), as well as a combination of Berg (1996), Miles and Hubermann (1994) and Patton's (1990) methods of qualitative analysis.The contribution of wisdom as fortogenic factor in the successful handling of the care giving of a spouse that suffers from DAT was described. The studies results indicated that wisdom at least played a role in the successful coping during the care-giving process. The development of wisdom during the care giving process could not be determined during this study and could possibly be addressed in further research.With regard to the last aim of the study (determining the effectiveness of the 'Berlin Wisdom Paradigm'), elements such as love, patience, hope, acceptance, humour, gratitude and love of life (vitality) were identified as a positive outlook on life and could be found in this sample-group. This positive life-perspective could be added as a new criterion in the BWP in its current form, in order to make the paradigm more effective in conceptualising the wisdom construct specifically with regard to the Alzheimer caregiver.The studies findings could be applied in a programme or interventions aimed at supporting the caregivers of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease (and other related diseases) on a psychological level. Through continuous research in this field both the caregiver and the patients' quality of life can be improved in these difficult circumstances.

[发布机构] University of the Free State