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Kinless Older Adults With Dementia: Qualitative Analysis of Data From the Adult Changes in Thought Study

Kinless Older Adults With Dementia: Qualitative Analysis of Data From the Adult Changes in Thought Study

Authors :
Janelle S Taylor
Marlaine S Figueroa Gray
Corinne M Mar
Paul K Crane
Hitomi Kariya
Callie Freitag
Priyanka Taneja
Arvind Ramaprasan
Bettina Shell-Duncan
Ann M O’Hare
Clara Berridge
Elizabeth K Vig
Stephanie G B Wheeler
Manu Thakral
Rene J Hawkes
Eric B Larson
Source :
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 78:1060-1072
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Oxford University Press (OUP), 2023.

Abstract

Objectives To examine the circumstances and needs of older adults who were “kinless,” defined as having no living spouse or children, when they developed dementia. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of information from the Adult Changes in Thought study. Among 848 participants diagnosed with dementia between 1994 and 2016, we identified 64 who had no living spouse or child at dementia onset. We then conducted a qualitative analysis of administrative documents pertaining to these participants: handwritten comments recorded after each study visit, and medical history documents containing clinical chart notes from participants’ medical records. Results In this community-dwelling cohort of older adults diagnosed with dementia, 8.4% were kinless at dementia onset. Participants in this sample had an average age of 87 years old, half lived alone, and one third lived with unrelated persons. Through inductive content analysis, we identified 4 themes that describe their circumstances and needs: (1) life trajectories, (2) caregiving resources, (3) care needs and gaps, and (4) turning points in caregiving arrangements. Discussion Our qualitative analysis reveals that the life trajectories that led members of the analytic cohort to be kinless at dementia onset were quite varied. This research highlights the importance of nonfamily caregivers and participants’ own roles as caregivers. Our findings suggest that clinicians and health systems may need to work with other parties to directly provide dementia caregiving support rather than rely on family, and address factors such as neighborhood affordability that particularly affect older adults who have limited family support.

Details

ISSN :
17585368 and 10795014
Volume :
78
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........f248dfa179f601d4aa4747931da088b0
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad030