Caring for home-dwelling parents with dementia: A qualitative study of adult-child caregivers' motivation.

The study is qualitative and descriptive. It reports themes from interviews and does not test whether any intervention improves motivation, caregiver burden or patient outcomes. Participants were 21 adult children in one municipality in Western Norway, and all held paid jobs; 14 had university education. The findings may not apply to spouses, retired caregivers, people in other countries or caregivers whose parent is still at home. Interviews were retrospective, conducted 2 to 12 months after the parent moved to a nursing home. Caregivers may have remembered or reinterpreted the home-dwelling period differently than if asked at the time. Ten of 31 people contacted declined, and the authors note the sample may have missed difficult-to-reach caregivers. The interview guide was shaped by self-determination theory and may have led participants toward positive motivational themes and away from barriers or negative experiences. Transcripts were not returned to participants for correction, and the study did not collect information about the parents' dementia types, so differences by dementia diagnosis cannot be examined.

The authors declared no competing interests. The supplied text does not report a funding source.

Do not read these motivational drivers as a tested intervention that works. They are themes from 21 adult children in one Norwegian municipality, and the study did not compare outcomes or test support strategies.