Perceived Challenges and Supports Experienced by the Family Caregiver of the Older Adult: A Photovoice Study

Abstract

As the older adult population in the United States grows in number, the need for family caregivers will also rise. Results from quantitative studies mostly provide evidence of caregiver burden, not caregiver support, and qualitative studies are needed. This study used a community-based participatory action research methodology called photovoice to explore challenges and supports experienced by family caregivers of the older adult. Photovoice incorporates the use of photographs to facilitate the elucidation of an experience by populations or groups. Using photovoice, study participants self-identified 5 challenges and 5 supports experienced in the caregiver role.

A scoping review: The utility of participatory research approaches in psychology

“…Approaches included: Discussions among team members (e.g., Mill, ; Mill et al, ; Wainberg et al, ), joint coding (e.g., Andrasik et al, ; Burkhalter et al, ; Lorion, ; Maher et al, ; Matebeni, Reddy, Sandfort, & Southey‐Swartz, ; Mohatt et al, ), “talking circles” (Schinke et al, ), and interpreting maps (Amsden & VanWynsberghe, ) and images (Foster‐Fishman et al, ; Jacobs & Harley, ). As well, the participatory nature of the arts‐based photovoice method includes participant‐led analysis of the meaning of their photos (e.g., Aldridge, ; Garner & Faucher, ; Taggart et al, ; Vaughan, ).…”

“…In contrast to their relatively limited use in research with older adults, arts-based methods were widely used as collaborative data collection methods in research with children and adolescents (e.g., Aldridge, 2007;Amsden & VanWynsberghe, 2005;Biag, 2014;Brazg, Bekemeier, Spigner, & Huebner, 2011;Cheney, 2011;Christiansen, 2010;Clark, 2011;Dean, 2007;Enright & O'Sullivan, 2013;Findholt, Michael, & Davis, 2011;Foster-Fishman, Nowell, Deacon, Nievar, & McCann, 2005;Garner & Faucher, 2014;Hennessey et al, 2010;Langhout, Collins, & Ellison, 2014). Although photography was the most commonly described arts-based method, participatory mapping (Clark, 2011;Lambert, Coad, Hicks, & Glacken, 2014), drawing (Gibson, Aldiss, Horstman, Kumpunen, & Richardson, 2010), arts-informed workshops (Christiansen, 2010), scrap-booking (Harvey, Wilkinson, Pressé, Joober, & Grizenko, 2014), role play and story-telling (Hartley, Murira, Mwangoma, Carter, & Newton, 2009), and popular theater (Mabala & Allen, 2002) are examples of other participatory arts-based methods discussed in the literature.…”

“…Approaches included: Discussions among team members (e.g.,Mill, 2001;Mill et al, 2010;Wainberg et al, 2007), joint coding (e.g.,Andrasik et al, 2012;Burkhalter et al, 2013;Lorion, 2004;Maher et al, 2007;Matebeni, Reddy, Sandfort, & Southey-Swartz, 2013;Mohatt et al, 2004), "talking circles"(Schinke et al, 2010), and interpreting maps(Amsden & VanWynsberghe, 2005) and images(Foster-Fishman et al, 2005;Jacobs & Harley, 2008). As well, the participatory nature of the arts-based photovoice method includes participantled analysis of the meaning of their photos (e.g.,Aldridge, 2007;Garner & Faucher, 2014;Taggart et al, 2013;Vaughan, 2014) Cotterell (2008). describes a robust process of collaborative and iterative analysis including a "series of 10 analysis sessions in which all transcripts were analyzed in turn, four theme generation sessions, one session to expand or collapse the analysis into final themes, and, lastly, a session to integrate phase one and two themes where possible" (p. 667) Hutnik, Smith and Koch (2012).…”

The Utilization and Adaption of Photovoice With Rural Women Aged 85 and Older

“…Photovoice is a participatory research method pioneered with marginalized populations in 1997 by Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris, who identified three main goals of Photovoice to enable people to record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns, promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues individually and through small group discussions, and inform policy makers. It involves individuals taking photographic images to document and reflect on issues significant to them (Baker & Wang, 2006;Garner & Faucher, 2014;Novek, Morris-Oswald, & Menec, 2012;Rush, Murphy, & Kozak, 2012;Wang & Burris, 1997). According to Wang and Redwood-Jones (2001), the employment of the Photovoice method normally includes a. a group of participants taking photographs to depict their experience with the phenomenon under study, b. contextualizing the photos by eliciting information from participants about what they have represented in the photographs, c. the use of a group process to allow collective reflection and dialogue related to the issue under study, and d. sharing the findings with an audience beyond the group.…”

Use of Photovoice Methods in Research on Informal Caring: A Scoping Review of the Literature

“…As health care budgets in many developed nations are increasingly strained, attempts to minimize the costs of institutionalized care have led health care systems to view families as a substitute for formal services, resulting in an increased reliance on families to provide care 7,8 . As such, the need for carers is expected to increase 9 . By 2050, the number of seniors aged 60 years or older is expected to double across the globe due to increased life expectancy, as well as healthcare and technological improvements 10 .…”