Caring for an Elderly Person with Alzheimer's from the Perspective of Family Caregivers

Abstract

Aim. The aim of this article is to draw attention to the problem of elderly care and to show what challenges family caregivers face. Moreover, this article show more light on the issue how care for the elderly affects the life of the caregiver and what can be learned from this experience.

Method. An analysis of a virtual self-help group operating on the social network Facebook dedicated to family carers of elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease was carried out.

Results. The analyzed posts were divided into four categories: Alzheimer’s diagnosis, which included posts about the experiences of caregivers related to the diagnosis of a loved one; daily care, which described posts related to the daily challenges of family caregivers; learning areas, which analyzed the learning process of group users, and forms of support of caregivers, i. e. posts related not only to the mutual support of users, but also to external help offered, e. g. by therapists.

Conclusions. Today, in an age of ageing society, with an ever-increasing number of post-productive age-related illnesses, there is a high demand for carers to provide appropriate care to the sick. In Poland, social policy is not developed enough to provide professional, institutional care for all those in need, which is why most often it is undertaken by unqualified family members. At this difficult time in their lives, when they are faced with new challenges, they need a place where they can let go of their feelings and connect with people who are dealing with the same difficulties having the same problems and feeling the same emotions. Therefore, a virtual self-help group is an ideal space for meeting these needs.