Table 2 The main themes and subthemes of the interview
Main Themes | Subthemes | Representative Case | Condensed meaning unit | Additional Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Poor health of older people with dementia | Decreased body function | P14 | “weakened legs” | P11: “When my father went to the bathroom at night, his legs were weak and he didn’t stand still, and his head accidentally hit the doorknob, causing a brain hemorrhage.“ |
P22 | “presbyopia” | |||
P9 | “ate fast and choked” | P19: “Grandma is old, her digestion and chewing ability will be poor, and it is easy to cause choking. One day when she was eating, she was in a hurry and choked, her food got stuck in her throat and she couldn’t swallow it…” | ||
Comorbid chronic diseases | P10 | “severe anemia” | P1: “Grandma has high blood pressure and has had three falls at home due to dizziness caused by high blood pressure.“ | |
Dementia symptoms | Memory Loss | P1 | “forgot to take antihypertensive drugs” | P6 “When she takes medication, she needs to be supervised, otherwise she will accidentally take or miss the medication.“ |
P7 | “often forgets to take it” | |||
P24 | “he couldn’t remember where he was going, what he was going to do, where his home was” | |||
P24 | “he forgot to turn off the gas stove” | |||
Cognitive impairment | P23 | “she doesn’t know she is doing things that can hurt herself” | ||
Behavioral abnormalities | P13 | “she is agitated” | P15: “My mom would exhibit some particularly aggressive behavior, accidentally scratching her arm a few times when agitated, and knocking over some things.“ | |
Communication barrier | P8 | “She was not able to inform us” | P21: “My mother is disabled and can’t speak, so she can’t tell us when something happens.“ | |
Unsafe home environment | Safety hazards in the home environment | P14 | “the floor is very slippery | P5: “Because it was night, the lighting in the house was insufficient, and his eyesight was poor, so he couldn’t see the road clearly and fell down.“ |
P22 | “the living environment is not very comfortable, and the lighting is inadequate” | |||
Low utilization rate of home security facilities | P15 | “the facilities in our home did not meet her needs” | P22: “I try to reduce clutter in the house, make sure the house is tidy to prevent the elderly from falling, and nothing else improves.“ | |
Insufficient caring ability of caregivers | Heavy care burden for caregivers | P21 | “I was going to cook for her and left her alone in bed” | P14: “Since we are all under retirement age and have to work, we cannot provide 24-hour supervision and care for my mom.“ |
Poor supervision of caregivers | P3 | “I was away for too long…she lay in bed for too long…she had pressure sores on her back” | P6: “Once my grandmother was home alone and unattended, she ran out of the house and didn’t know the way home, thus she got lost…” | |
Poor economic conditions of caregivers | P16 | “his financial burden is heavy” | ||
Lack of safety awareness of caregivers | Caregivers lack safety knowledge | P9 | “I didn’t know anything about home safety” | P13: “I think it is mainly because we don’t know what factors will threaten the elderly, which makes the elderly have a high risk of danger at home.“ |
P16 | “we don’t have enough safety awareness” | |||
Caregivers inaction | P4 | “I have not learned about home safety for older people with dementia in any other ways” | P23: “I didn’t learn about home care for older people with dementia through other means. My family and I take care of the elderly according to our daily life experience.“ | |
P8 | “I don’t actively search for knowledge” | P18: “I didn’t take the initiative to learn something about home care and safety for people with dementia. Because I am usually busy, I don’t have time to learn about it, but I understand the importance of this knowledge now. If there are related knowledge dissemination activities in the community in the future, I will definitely attend them, and I think they are very useful.“ | ||
P14 | “I didn’t take the initiative to learn about home safety” | |||
Lack of reflection by caregivers | P15 | “My mother had a bed fall… and put anti-collision tape on the corner of the table” | ||
Lack of social support | P23 | “I have not received professional guidance from professional medical staff or community nurses” | P14: “Currently there is no access to knowledge on how to take care of elderly people with dementia. I hope that the community can provide some help and guidance to families with older people with dementia at home.“ |