Qualitative Analysis of Perspectives of Women with Dementia Receiving Care from Their Daughters - Research Paper Example

A Qualitative Analysis of “Perspectives of Women with Dementia Receiving Care from their Adult Daughters” Academic and market studies often use qualitative research as a method of gathering and analyzing data. Unlike quantitative research which uses exact figures and computations on large samples, qualitative research deals with the collection of data that came from human behavior, reasoning and decision making. It also focuses on smaller groups to encompass the in-depth understanding that this approach needs (Polit and Beck 507). This paper aims to analyze and critique the qualitative data and methodology used in the study “Perspectives of Women with Dementia Receiving Care from their Adult Daughters” by Catherine Ward-Griffin, Nancy Bol and Abram Oudshoorn. Dementia is a non-specific ailment condition that affects a person’s areas of cognition such as recollection, attention, linguistics and problem solving. It may occur in two stages, static or an effect of a brain injury, or progressive which results to long-term deterioration as caused by injury or illness. The fact that the early onset of dementia is likely to transpire at the age of 65 indicates that this is an important concern for old people as well as their family members that would have to take care of them during their battle with the disease (Fadil et al. 247). According to Ward-Griffin, Bol and Oudshoorn (121), there are only few known studies directed to document the care giving experience of dementia patients and their perspectives in their condition. In order to explore further on this topic, they specifically conducted a qualitative investigation regarding the standpoint and experiences of mothers with dementia that are being taken care of their daughters and their relationship with them. The authors gathered separate thorough interviews on a sample of ten women suffering from mild to moderate mental impairment and developed a template analysis strategy that will classify the index of gathered data using the answers to the following inquiries: (1) how do women with AD and their adult daughters describe their experiences of receiving/providing care? (2) How do women with AD and their adult daughters describe their relationship? (3) What contextual factors influence the care provided/received? (127). In the study, the analysts recruited mothers suffering the early stages of dementia and tested them using the Standardized Mini-Mental Status Examination (SMMSE). Only participants who established good oral and comprehension skills and obtained high scores in SMMSE were interviewed using audiotape recording. A written material detailing the purpose and nature of the research were provided to participants with two interviews conducted in a span of six to nine months. On the other hand, the daughters who took part of the program recounted that they have been providing care for their mothers at an average of three days per week and been doing it for the past forty-nine months (Ward-Griffin, Bol and Oudshoorn 129-130). Less research documentation was applied in data collection concerning individuals with dementia. It involved separate interviews of the mothers and daughters to ensure a more candid response specifically from the elderly patients, the participants answering a demographic questionnaire at the end of the first interview and the analysts providing full field notes after each interview. Hence, the interviewers exemplified the importance of attaining the perspectives of dementia patients by employing additional interview strategies that is suitable for their condition (Ward-Griffin, Bol and Oudshoorn 130). According to the authors of the research, the qualitative data was analyzed using the guiding principle of Lofland and Lofland where full field notes consisting of perception, insights and observations are immediately written after an interview. The interviewers continuously provide his or her insights thru notes and memos. Gathering of information and its analysis were processed simultaneously throughout the study which includes transcription and examination of interviews. Independent and team analysis were used with the guidance of a lead investigator to conceptualize the interpretation of the experiences of each participants. More so, “Guba and Lincoln’s criteria for establishing credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability” (Ward-Griffin, Bol and Oudshoorn 131) were applied. Based on the methodology presented, the researchers used the template analysis style as a strategy in determining the qualitative exploration of the data collected. They developed a template or guide where the narrative records are applied before collecting the data as demonstrated through the questionnaires that were prepared before conducting the interviews to participants (Polit and Beck 509). In addition, the researchers implemented the major sources of information in qualitative studies namely the audiotape interview and field notes. The precise transcription of the conversation is significant to the validity of the data and the inquiry that follows it. The overall interview experience as well as the nonverbal behavior of the partakers as captured in the field notes should also be included in the data. Because transcription errors cannot be avoided, outmost care in interpreting and the need to ensure accuracy are strongly recommended by various academicians. Since the sample is only composed of a few individuals and the category system is simple, the qualitative data were organized manually. Notes and memos are used in analyzing every interview which complements the thoughts shared by the participants at the time (Polit and Beck 510-511). The featured research paper followed the proper way of analyzing qualitative materials by first setting a broad theme or category to fuse the foundation of the experience at a holistic level and then subdividing it to smaller groups. Probing for themes implicates discovering commonalities across participants and pursuing normal distinction. Initially, the study aimed to document the views and experiences of mothers suffering from dementia that received care from their daughters. From the categories set prior to the interviews, researchers were able to conceptualize the data in four types of needing care such as the doing care, undemanding care, determining care and accepting care. This varying degree of inconsistent experiences of needing care transpires from the relationship of the mothers to their daughters and by the “cultural ideologies and constraints manifested in feelings of grateful guilt.” by the patients. Results also showed that the ideologies of individualism and familism represented as the origin of the responses achieved (Ward-Griffin, Bol and Oudshoorn 131). Moreover, the researchers successfully intertwined the thematic pieces together in the final analysis stage. They came up with interrelated concepts that embraced the theme as a whole. In the study, the experiences of mothers with dementia who receives care from their daughters were illustrated as a form of a flower using the information gathered from their interrelated responses. Doing care describes the apparent capability of the mothers to take care of themselves. The need to be useful and self-sufficient even among the elderly is supported by their strong cultural values of independence. Undemanding care involves the response of suppressing requests for help from their daughters because they don’t want to be an added weight to them. Determining care includes the response that is uncertain if they want to be independent or if they need assistance. The participants resolved this problem by determining the amount and kind of care that they would receive from their daughters. The last response is accepting care, or the voluntary acceptance of the mothers to any help that their daughters would give to them. Of all the responses gathered from the participants, all of them felt gratitude with a tinge of guilt for the care and assistance that they are being given (Ward-Griffin, Bol and Oudshoorn 133-138). Nonetheless, the research paper appropriately analyzed the qualitative data collected. The methodology, strategy and approach used in the study are cohesive, reliable and valid. Although the insights of the respondents may be subjective in nature, the meticulous construction of questions and type of inquiry that the researchers presented, as guided by socialist-feminist theory and a life-course perspective, resulted into a rich and comprehensive conclusion about the topic. However, the study could have probably given light to some more unanswered concerns with the dementia population if the researchers further added subcategories of the theme. The investigators acknowledged that there are only few studies directed from the outlooks of dementia patients so they should have seized the opportunity. Works Cited Fadil, H., Borazanci, A., Haddou, E. A. B., Yahyaoui, M., Korniychuk, E., Jaffe, S. L., Minagar, “Early onset dementia.” International Review of Neurobiology. 84 (2009): 245–262. Print. Polit, Denise F., and Cheryl Tatano Beck. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. Web. 5 Jul. 2012. Ward-Griffin, Catherine, Nancy Bol, and Abram Oudshoorn. “Perspectives of women with dementia receiving care from their adult daughters.” CJNR. 38.1 (2006):120–146. Print. Read More