| Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common, neurodegenerative disease of the elderly, is an incurable, progressive disorder that impairs movement, and can affect cognition and mental health. Current therapeutic interventions focus on maximizing functional status so affected individuals can continue to live in the community. As the disease progresses, family members become informal caregivers when they provide extensive, uncompensated, physical, emotional, social or financial support for the person with PD. Latino adults are the fastest growing segment of the United States population over age 65, and 29% of the Latino population is foreign born. General caregiving research has demonstrated that ethnicity impacts family caregiving. The majority of studies examining informal family caregiving for persons with PD have been conducted with English speaking adults. This phenomenological study sought to add to the body of knowledge about family caregiving for persons with PD by describing the activities and lifeworld of 10 informal family caregivers of immigrant Puerto Rican and Dominican adults with this disease. Purposive sampling was used to recruit study participants. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the processes of epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and synthesis. The study found caregivers' relationships and activities were influenced by interactions with persons who had varying levels of understanding of their situations. Caregivers' admired care recipients' courage and reflected on their own actions in relation to these attributes. Although, caregiving was depicted as emotionally and physically demanding, caregivers described overcoming challenges and spending time with care recipients as beneficial, meaningful experiences. Finally, caregivers expressed feelings of ambiguity about the future as they watched care recipients' health decline as the disease progressed. |
