| “No, it wasn’t difficult, like I said, I felt it was an honor to take care of her, to do what I could do.”(19) |
Caring perspective (I) |
Attribution of meaning (C) |
Support needs in personal development
|
| “I was too busy doing other things. And now, in real life, things matter more”(19). |
Vision of life (C) |
| “Knowing that I took care of him the best way I could”(24). |
No resentment (C) |
| “I meditate every night before I go to bed”(24). |
Time for me(C) |
Self-Care Perspectives (C) |
| “If you’re not exercising, you need to find something you enjoy doing physically. Find a way to relieve your stress, be creative and keep healthy and positive people around you”(21). |
Search for living conditions (I) |
| “Keep my version of community and hopefully get into a situation where there will be a lot of people around, including people my age”(21). |
| “I often find that they don’t identify themselves as caregivers”(23). |
Exploring the identity of male caregivers (C) |
Identity reconstruction (C) |
| “The term counseling has a certain stigma and I would be wary of revealing the fact that I was receiving such a service to my male friends and coworkers”(23). |
Masculinity, emotion, and care (C) |
| “I would be good if someone came in for a few more weeks to keep things back on track”(24). |
To keep being supported (I) |
Discontinuity of support in the care pathway (I) |
Support needs in managing the legacy of care
|
| “Whether it’s a pastor or a nurse, just someone to talk to — that would have been helpful”(24). |
| “I feel isolated and the hospice cancelled the counselling session I had signed up for”(25). |
Loneliness and Grief in Isolation (I) |
| “This (caregiving) has taken a huge toll on me financially. I’m living on less than half. I stopped buying magazines and other things we used to have. My biggest challenge is financial”(24). |
Weak financial resources(I) |
financial vulnerability (I) |
| “During the moments of respite, thoughts were still directed to my husband”(24). |
Persistence of concern in caring (C) |
Impact on mental health (I) |
| “Friends stopped coming here. I think that was the hardest part, not having family support. I walked away from everything because I couldn’t take care of him and maintain my social circles”(24). |
Lack of social relationships (I) |
| “I’m alone, I miss him. Not having someone to care for or pamper is a negative aspect”(24). |
Sadness of Loneliness (I) |
| “Then I was really down for a while”(20). |
Experience of loss (C) |
| Unlike my parents, financially speaking, I hope that what we can do is move to a place where we can eventually support ourselves“(21). |
Plan for the future life (I) |
Future projection (I) |
Needs of formal and informal responses for the future
|
| “I want to reconnect with people on an ongoing basis”(24). |
Building a network (I) |
| “It was the support groups that helped me”(24). |
| “I have to tell you that dealing with bureaucracy is very, very frustrating and that is, you know, beyond the pain I’m feeling, it’s not fun. I wish someone had warned me of what was coming”(25). |
Moving forward in the face of uncertainty
Managing the unknown (I) |
Structured services (I) |
| “The only time you get support is when you complain, after someone dies, and you should have it before that, to prepare for it”(19). |
Availability of support network (I) |
| “I go to the support group every 15 days. It is useful for me to meet and share experiences with other people. We are, so to speak, at different stages of our caregiving situation, with our spouses in day care centers, in temporary care centers and in nursing homes”(22). |
Social support network (I) |
Family and Community Support (I) |
| “I sit here alone at the kitchen table and I feel extremely lonely. Visiting close friends is very important”(22). |
| “My faith prevents me from taking my own life”(24). |
Religious beliefs and survival strategies (C) |
| The church is helping me, I’m doing well month to month, unless something comes up”(20). |
Spiritual Support (I) |
| “If you understand the Dutch immigrants, they came with their families and basically all their time was spent in church, also their family and their friends. They don’t relate to anyone else”(20). |
Culturally informed care-seeking behaviors (I) |
Post-informal caregiver’s perspectives and experiences of the support network: a systematic literature review and meta-synthesis
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