The Social Process and Changed Dynamics in the Co-Produced Care and Support to People Living With Dementia Within Healthcare Services: An Ethnographic Study
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.This study explores how family caregivers negotiate their roles alongside healthcare professionals in dementia care. It reveals dynamic phases of co-production, improving support for families and dementia care practices.
Area Of Science
- Gerontology
- Sociology
- Healthcare Studies
Background
- Family caregivers are crucial for home-based dementia care.
- Previous research often separated family and professional caregiving.
- This study examines the integrated, co-produced nature of family caregiving within professional healthcare interactions.
Purpose Of The Study
- To investigate situated, co-produced family caregiving dynamics.
- To capture the negotiations and evolving roles of family caregivers interacting with healthcare professionals for home-dwelling individuals with dementia.
- To understand the temporal shifts in co-produced care.
Main Methods
- Ethnographic approach involving field visits, dialogue meetings, and interviews.
- Study conducted in a Danish municipality with 42 participants (23 family caregivers, 14 people with dementia, 5 dementia coordinators).
- Thematic analysis using Erving Goffman's frontstage/backstage theory.
Main Results
- Identified three phases of co-produced care: negotiating assessment, supported co-production, and negotiating receding care.
- Highlighted the complex, time-changing negotiations and role shifts between family caregivers, people with dementia, and healthcare professionals.
- Demonstrated how family caregivers actively shape and co-produce care within formal healthcare encounters.
Conclusions
- Family caregiving in dementia is a situated, co-produced process involving intricate negotiations.
- Acknowledging these dynamics can lead to improved support for family caregivers.
- Enhancing understanding of co-production can improve home-based dementia care practices and outcomes.

