Abstract
Editor’s Note
SAGE Publications and the Journal of Family Nursing (JFN) are pleased to announce a partnership with the Japanese Association for Research in Family Nursing and the Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing (JJRFN) to exchange 10 translated abstracts per year. Six selected abstracts from JFN were translated into Japanese and published in JJRFN in September 2015; 6 selected abstracts from JJRFN were translated into English and are published in JFN in this issue. This collaboration between both journals will provide an opportunity not only to share family nursing knowledge but also to promote and advance family nursing science between languages and countries. Both journal editors were so enthusiastic in their support of this exchange, that each increased the number of abstracts for the launch of this new initiative, from the required 5 to 6.
Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing Abstracts
Ochi, M., & Nojima, S. (2012). The turning point for families of alcoholics. Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing, 18(1), 25-36. [In Japanese]
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explore the turning point experience for Japanese families of alcoholics. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 21 adults who live with a family member experiencing addiction to alcohol (20 women and 1 man). Semi-structured interviews (1-2 sessions lasting about 1 hour) focused on the turning point experience in the family. Participant observation was used to examine 116 support group meetings for family members. Grounded theory was used to analyze these data. Turning point experiences generally include five dimensions: 1) loss of reference and belief; 2) relief from stress and tension; 3) confronting problems related to alcohol addiction; 4) redefining the family relationship; and 5) beginning the transition to a new self. Families experiencing the typical turning point did not pass through the five dimensions in a linear progression, but rather they passed through two overlapping phases. In the early phase, most families experienced a loss of reference and belief. If they received peer support, they achieved relief from stress and tension. As this occurred, they moved into the second phase: confronting problems related to alcohol addiction through a deepening of their understanding of the disease; redefining the family relationship by freeing themselves from their distorted perceptions of the alcoholic family member; and beginning a transition to a new self in which they started facing reality, accepting themselves affirmatively, and reconstructing their self-esteem. In this second phase, they moved synergistically between these three dimensions. Through the turning point experience, families matured and developed more deeply.
Keywords
alcohol addiction, family, turning point
Sumino, K., Nakatani, H., & Fujimoto, H. (2013). Structures of emotions of caregiving in family caregivers for the elderly with dementia. Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing, 19(1), 54-64. [In Japanese]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify structures of emotions of caregiving in family caregivers who were caring for an elderly family member with dementia at home. We conducted a survey of 360 family caregivers who used home care services for the elderly family member with dementia (Dementia Aged Daily Life Degree of Autonomy Criteria Grade II or above) in 28 small group homes for multifunctional long-term dementia care. We developed the questionnaires, including emotions of caregiving, characteristics of the elderly clients and their families, and positive cognitions of care. The questionnaires were answered anonymously by a self-administered mailing method from May to July, 2011. The data from 206 of 231 respondents were analyzed. The mean ages of the elderly with dementia and caregivers were 84.9 ± 7.8 years old and 62.5 ± 10.7, respectively. The mean period of care was 4.2 ± 2.9 years. The emotions of caregiving experienced by family caregivers consisted of three factors: building empathy, hiding negative emotions, and assuming cheerfulness. Women (p < .01) and caregivers with the learning experience of dementia (p < .05) frequently adopted attentive behaviors to emotions of the elderly with dementia. Frequency of attentive behaviors to emotions had a correlation with positive cognitions of care scores. It was found that the caregivers controlled their emotions in care provision of the elderly with dementia. These results suggest that providing knowledge of dementia and emotions of caregiving for family caregivers is important to reduce their care burden.
Keywords
elderly with dementia, family caregiver, emotions of caregiving
Furuse, M. (2014). Visiting nurses’ support for the mental uncertainty experienced by families of terminal cancer patients during care. Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing, 19(2), 90-100. [In Japanese]
Abstract
This study elucidated how visiting nurses view the mental uncertainty experienced by family members who are caring for terminal cancer patients, and how they provide support. The subjects were 12 visiting nurses who worked in a visiting nurse station and provided care for terminal cancer patients. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach. Family intentions indicate visiting nurses’ understanding of the mental uncertainty of the family, in which phases are seen. The visiting nurses saw “uncertainty toward the place of death,” “decision to provide care at home depending on conditions,” and “vacillation as death approaches” in the process of the family members’ mental uncertainty. Visiting nurses provided support for the home care adaptation process to families who were unsure about the place of death. They monitored the physical condition of the patient and the care adaptation state of the family, as well as provided opportunities that led to formation of consensus in the family and encouraged decisions regarding home terminal care depending on conditions by the family. Visiting nurses provided support for the process of adapting to terminal care at home to families that had decided on care at home. In addition, they communicated what families could do for the patient at the present with families that showed vacillation as the patient approached death before their eyes and provided support so that the patient could face death serenely.
Keywords
visiting nurse, mental uncertainty, family, terminal cancer patient, Modified Grounded Theory
Kawahara, N., Hongo, T., & Kobayashi, N. (2014). Trends in research which utilize the concept of family resilience—Reviewing the applicability to disaster nursing practice in Japan. Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing, 19(2), 114-123. [In Japanese]
Abstract
Japan is prone to natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, tornados, and heavy snowfalls. The Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1997 and The Great Earthquake in East Japan are still fresh in our memories. Living in a disaster-prone country, there is an urgent need to study how to support families who face health problems caused by disasters. Our study goal was to acquire knowledge that could be applied to disaster rescue nursing. We reviewed both local and international studies that focused on the concept of family resilience, from a standpoint of “reserved capacity” and “resilience.” Using “family” and “resilience” as keywords, we conducted a search of the research literature using Web Japan Medical Abstracts Society, CiNii, and EBSCOhost and categorized the studies using the following conditions: the focus of the study and whether the focus was on reinforcement of reserved capacity or resilience. We found that the concept of family resilience allowed application across a variety of generations, ethnicities, individuals, families, and groups. In addition, our review of the research related to intervention in natural disasters and wars found both “reserved capacity” and “resilience” were addressed. The results suggest that interventions should focus on reinforcement of reserved power as well as resilience in families who are affected by disaster. The concept of family resilience needs to play a central role in disaster nursing practice.
Keywords
family resilience, disaster, family support, disaster nursing
Nishihara, M., Hattori, J., & Yamaguchi, K. (2014). Changes in the lifestyles of mothers as a result of their children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities entering school. Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing, 19(2), 101-113. [In Japanese]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to elucidate the changes in the lifestyles of mothers after their children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities entered school. We conducted a qualitative and descriptive study involving semi-structured interviews with 10 mothers of children with severe physical disabilities attending a special support school. Using a revised grounded theory approach, three stages of lifestyle of the mothers emerged from our analysis before and after the child entered school: “adapting to a lifestyle that focuses on health care specific to the child with severe motor and intellectual disabilities,” “stage of preparing the child to enter school life,” and “a lifestyle with a greater degree of freedom as a result of the child’s school life.” In the first stage, the mothers spent their days isolated and feeling uneasy about the symptoms specific to their children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities, reclaiming their everyday life by experiencing a connection with society and friends through other mothers and children attending the kindergarten. The second stage was very important for smooth transitioning to the subsequent stage, and it was a stage in which the mothers prepared their children to attend school and readjusted their lifestyle. We found that the daily activities of mothers increased because of adaptation to school life in accordance with the stable health of their children, thereby preparing for a future autonomous and family lifestyle for the mother and child. These results suggest the need for support, including medical assistance to stabilize the health of the child and decision making related to treatment, as well as support that enables mothers to predict and manage their children’s health.
Keywords
children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities, mothers, entering school, home care
Yasuzuka, N., Morimoto, Y., Wachi, R., Noguchi-Watanabe, M., & Yamamoto-Mitani, N. (2015). A case of homecare nursing for assisting gastric tube use decision. Japanese Journal of Research in Family Nursing, 20(2), 68-78. [In Japanese]
Abstract
This case study focused on homecare nursing offered to a family for 3 months to assist a family decision for gastric tube use. The nurse who was responsible for the case first wrote down the care process; then she, her colleagues, and a researcher jointly examined and developed categories that pertained to the intended practice purposes, and a summary table was developed. The client was a male in his 80s with Levy’s dementia, hospitalized for dysphagia-related pneumonia, and discharged with a naso-gastric tube. The primary caregiver was his wife in her 80s with back and knee pain. His daughter was in her 50s and worked full time. Given the diagnosis of pneumonia after discharge, the physician recommended installing a gastric tube. The family made a decision about gastric tube use after much consideration. Homecare nursing was started at discharge and provided 4 times a week. Nursing care for assisting proxy decision making was grouped into four categories that generally took place in the following order: 1) providing personal care to reduce family’s caregiving burden; 2) not providing information to alleviate family’s information overload; 3) to comfort the agony of proxy decision making, providing assurance to support the family whatever their decision would be; and 4) making the best efforts for eating assistance so that the family would not regret their decision. The family could independently make a decision and gradually absorb the agony of having to decide with time. This case illustrates how nurses characteristically used personal care such as toileting or eating assistance for the purpose of assisting family decision making.
Keywords
proxy decision making, case study, gastric tube, family caregivers, homecare nursing