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Table 1 Crisis definitions from seven articles with citations

From: Reviewing the definition of crisis in dementia care

Original article

Crisis definition

Hoff, 1995 [7, 8]

“The representation of a serious occasion or turning point occurring when an individual is faced with an obstacle that is important to life goals. A crisis is self-limiting because homeostatic mechanisms necessitate resolution of a crisis. A crisis results in depletion of system resources and eventually the system shuts down or ceases to function.”

Caplan, 1961 [7, 9]

“An obstacle that is insurmountable through customary methods of problems solving.”

Liken, 2001 [7]

“A process precipitated by a stressor that occurs only in the presence of mediating factors, when normal methods of problem solving have failed, and results in an outcomes or resolution.”

Caplan, 1964 [10, 11]

“An imbalance between the difficulty and importance of the problem and resources immediately available to deal with it.”

Butcher and Maudel, 1976 [1214]

“The dual experience of distress and sense of immediacy associated with a defined, problematic situation.”

Aguilera, 1998 [15]

“A perceived or actual imbalance between perceived difficulty of a life challenge and an available repertoire of coping skills.”

Aguilera and Messick, 1986 [16], Joslin, 1980 [17]

England, 1994 [17]

“A decision point, an opportunity for growth.”

Maturana and Varela, 1987[18], Shaw and Halliday, 1992 [17]

“In crisis, experience within the niche is detached and out of sync with the rest of the domains of experiences, one or more structural domain.”

Michon, 2005 [19], De Clerq and Dubois, 2001 [20], Aguilera, 1998 [15]

“Periods of disorganization experienced by the entire family that turn into opportunities of change.”