The main aim of this paper is to consider the experiences of Swedish spouses who have placed a partner in a care home for older people. Data were gathered from semi-structural interviews with 14 spouses (11 wives and 3 husbands) who had been involved in a care home placement within the previous 6 months. The results reported here are from the first component of a larger grounded theory study, the aim of which is to explore, describe and understand the experience of care home placement from a variety of perspectives and to identify the implications for policy and practice in Sweden. The focus here is on the experience of spouses, relating to the decision-making process, the move into care and subsequent contact with the care home. Four themes emerged from the data - making the decision, making the move, adjusting to the move and reorientation. The results show a lack of planning for the elder person's entry to a care home, and professional dominance of this stage of the process. The largely ambivalent emotional responses to the move that spouses experience and the difficulties in initiating and sustaining relationships with staff in the home are discussed in the light of previous research.

Aims and objectives.  The aim was to understand the lived experience of close relatives encountering older persons with acute confusional state. Background.  Little is known about relatives of patients with acute confusional state and their experiences while encountering a family member exhibiting acute confusional state. Design.  A descriptive phenomenological research approach was used. Methods.  Data were collected by interviewing 10 close relatives of older people with acute confusional state at two hospital wards. Results.  Relatives experience the encounter as encountering a familiar person who has suddenly become unfamiliar, struggling to separate the familiar from the unfamiliar and trying to understand the causes of acute confusional state and the behaviour of the person. Six constituents illuminate the phenomenon: ‘change in the other person’, ‘rapid and unexpected changes’, ‘experiencing insecurity in the encounter’, ‘trusting or mistrusting the other person’, ‘experiencing loss’ and ‘experiencing exposure’. Relevance to clinical practice.  It is important for professional carers to support relatives on how to encounter the person with acute confusional state, and to co‐operate with relatives to gain knowledge about the unique person behind the acute confusional state. Conclusion.  Relatives’ difficulties in dealing with strong emotions evoked within the encounter, experiencing limitation and lack of trust is essential knowledge for professional carers in all care settings.

Despite a universal policy of community care, the number of frail older people entering care homes is likely to increase in the future. There have been relatively few studies exploring the experience of spouses who have placed a partner in care. Due to a lack of preparation, the placement process is often ad hoc, with little attention being given to spouses' emotional reactions or their efforts to maintain their relationship with their partner. The relationship between care home staff and families is often superficial and strained. There is a need for more proactive efforts to facilitate a partnership between care home staff and families.

Female carers face difficulties in always living up to gendered standards and this need to be considered when evaluating policies and practices for family carers.

Development of older men's caregiving roles for wives with dementia. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 31(4): 957-964https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12419Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:rkh:diva-2334 This secondary analysis of qualitative interviews describes how older Swedish men approach the caregiver role for a wife with dementia, over time. An increasing number of male caregivers will become primary caregivers for partners living with dementia at home, and they will likely be caregivers for an extended period of time. It has been stated that caregiving experiences influence how older men think of themselves. The theoretical starting point is a constructivist position, offering an understanding of older caregiving men's constructions and reconstructions of themselves and their caregiver roles. Seven men, who were cohabiting with their wives, were interviewed on up to five occasions at home during a 5-to 6-year period.The findings comprise three themes; me and it, me despite it, it is me, depict how these men gradually take on and normalise the caregiving tasks, and how they develop and internalise a language based on their caring activities. The results provide understanding about the relationship between men as caregivers and how this influences them as individuals. By careful attention to each caregiving man's individual needs rather than making gendered assumptions about men and caring, the aim of the caregiver support for men might best target men's own meaning to the caring in their the everyday practices.