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PURPOSE: To better understand how care givers, and their care receivers who have experienced mobility limitations over a period of time, enhance the work of care in the home. DESIGN: The qualitative method of grounded theory was used to identify work strategies enacted by care dyads consisting of informal (family) care givers and their care receivers. SAMPLE: The sample consisted of 60 care dyads. METHOD: Data was collected via semi-structured interviews conducted in the care receiver's home. After leaving the home, interviewers completed end notes describing the care situation. MAIN RESEARCH CLASSIFICATION: Nursing Research, Orthopaedic Nursing, Home Health Nursing. FINDINGS: Content analysis revealed five interpersonal and informational work strategies, used by both care givers and care receivers, to facilitate the work of care: Sharing Ideas and Feelings, Delegating, Achieving a Common Goal, Identifying Sources of New Information, and Creative Problem Solving. End note data substantiated the benefits of using these strategies. CONCLUSION: Although providing care to a family member in the home is frequently thought of as "work," few analysts have described the nature of this work or considered the care receiver as a worker. This study identified the important role of the care receiver in the work of care in the home and delineated five specific Work Strategies used by informal care givers and their care receivers to facilitate such care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING RESEARCH: Ongoing research is needed for further clarification of these strategies and for development of innovative ways to teach the strategies to informal care givers and their care receivers as they prepare to live with mobility limitations in the home setting.
Activities of Daily Living↗