insights from trainee clinical psychologists and family carers
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
University of Warwick
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2014
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Thesis (D.Clin.Psy.)
Text preceding or following the note
2014
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This thesis focuses on the care of older people, both those with and without dementia, by family caregivers and one group of health professionals (trainee clinical psychologists). This thesis considers and explores a number of factors which are important to those providing care. These factors have been defined specifically as Religion / Spirituality in the literature review, which focuses on family caregivers of people with dementia. However, in the empirical paper those factors important to providing care were not pre-defined by the research team but emerged from the data. It is hoped that, in conjunction, these papers will contribute to understanding the perspectives of those caring for older people. Chapter 1 is a systematic literature review investigating the association between religion/spirituality and the psychological wellbeing/role adjustment among Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) family (informal) dementia caregivers. It focuses on one specific factor 'religion/spirituality' in order to understand one aspect of the dementia caregiving experience. Chapter 2 is an empirical study exploring trainee clinical psychologists' experiences of working with older people, including people with and without dementia. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the transcript data from eight interviews with participants. Three superordinate themes and nine subordinate themes emerged following the data analysis. The themes are explored, including implications for research, clinical practice and clinical psychology doctoral training. Chapter 3 is a reflective account, which includes the experience of carrying out the research and the insights it provided. Adopting the theme of 'story' allowed a connection to be made between hearing the stories of older people, and hearing the stories of participants in IPA research. The theme of 'story' then also allowed further exploration of this topic in books, research and media articles.