Özet:

Background: Caring process affects caregivers in various aspects. Aim: To give an insight into caring experiences of family members of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease in the framework of Watson’s theory of human caring. Methods: The study has a descriptive, qualitative design and its conceptual framework is based on Watson’s theory of human caring. The study sample was composed of 16 family members. Data were collected with a semi-structured interview form at in-depth interviews. Obtained data were evaluated with content analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of the institution where the study was performed and written informed consent was taken from the participants. Results: Two main themes were identified: difficulty in caregiving role and satisfaction with caregiving role, and subthemes emerged. Subthemes for difficulty in caregiving role were care related expectations for support, lack of understanding, disrupted familial and social relationships, changes in roles, rejection of the disease, questioning prior negative relationships, fear of inability to give care in the future and attempts to receive professional support. Subthemes for satisfaction with caregiving role were prior positive experiences and relationships, perceive caregiving as gratitude and beliefs.Conclusion: The emerging themes and subthemes can provide guidance for health professionals to design interventions for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Health professionals, especially nurses should be prepared for taking the responsibility for enabling caregivers to become aware of positive aspects of caregiving, enhancing caregivers’ knowledge and skills for caregiving and helping caregivers to be aware of their coping skills

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