Managing caregiving at home: Thai caregivers living in the United States

Abstract

The researchers designed a qualitative descriptive study informed by grounded theory and ethnography to generate a beginning substantive theory that illuminates the process of caregiving in Thai families living in the United States. A purposive sample of seven Thai caregivers of chronically ill relatives in the western and the midwestern regions of the U.S. participated in interviews, provided observations and wrote memoranda. Three categories emerged from "managing caregiving at home:" (a) being caregivers, (b) the consequences of caregiving and (c) coping with the difficulties of caregiving. The study participants describe caregiving as a willing burden and an unavoidable duty, attitudes which are clearly influenced by Buddhist beliefs. The results of this study provide nurses with a better understanding of the caregiving process, especially as it exists in the Thai American population.