Maladaptive cognitions and physical health of the caregivers of dementia: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

The aim of the study was to conduct in-depth analyses of the lived experiences of the caregivers of dementia and their maladaptive thinking patterns and how their physical health was influenced and compromised. The main method used was interpretative phenomenological analysis and involved in-depth analysis of eight participants screened through homogenous purposive sampling. After taking written consent from the participants, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the data that were transcribed later on to carry out free textual analysis. The themes were generated from the transcripts through the funneling approach in order to arrive at the themes that were common, frequent, and reflected the experiences shared by the participants. The verification was done through peer review and rich thick description. The most significant themes regarding maladaptive cognitions were catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, and blaming, whereas fatigue and sleep disturbances were the most significant themes regarding physical health. The emergent themes point towards a need to devise indigenous therapeutic intervention for the caregivers of dementia in the Pakistani sociocultural context as the literature available on caregiving is quite scanty in our culture.