Effective coping among dementia caregivers in Singapore : narratives through an online MCAT-DC intervention

• Main Author: Tan, Lynette Shun Ying
• Other Authors: Ho Hau Yan Andy
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/151016
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Objectives: Dementia caregivers often experience chronic and prolonged stresses due to the long hours and energy spent in caregiving. This can lead to caregiver burnout and poor well-being. Effective coping helps to mitigate the stresses faced. However, there is a lack of local research on how caregivers cope to help sustain them in their caregiving journey. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the lived experiences of dementia caregivers with regards to how they cope effectively, and how an online Mindful-Compassion Art-Based Therapy for Dementia Caregivers (MCAT-DC) intervention helped to facilitate the insights shared. Methodology: The online MCAT-DC intervention is a four-week programme that covered topics like stress, self-care, grief, and meaning-making. There was a total of six dementia caregivers; all were adult children to the care recipients. Data collected included the focus group discussions during the intervention and the feasibility group discussion at the end of the intervention. Discussions were oriented towards the caregivers’ experience with the session topic, as well as how mindful meditation and artmaking helped them to relate to the topic. Grounded theory approach was used for the data analysis. Findings: The emergent model consisted of a total of nine themes across four theme categories – having self-compassion, staying realistically positive, remembering caregiving purpose, and holistic online MCAT-DC experience. Discussion: Findings suggest that the MCAT-DC intervention did help to facilitate the insights shared by the caregivers. Implications for strengths-based interventions were discussed. Future studies could work to refine the emergent model.