In our master's thesis, we investigated the experience of grief when facing a diagnosis of dementia in parents. The purpose of our research was to investigate whether relatives who face a parent's progressing dementia experience grief and whether this experience is similar to grief after the death of a loved one.
In the theoretical part of the master's thesis, we present dementia, its characteristics, the course of the disease, and the experiences of adult children who care for their parents with dementia.
In the empirical part, we present the results of the research which was conducted using the phenomenological method. For this purpose, structured interviews were prepared and sent to the participants by e-mail. Six adult participants caring for their parent with dementia participated in the study. We found that the participants did not experience coping with their parent's dementia as a grieving process that occurs when a loved one dies. However, they did experience feelings of losing their parent in some way. At the same time, they mentioned emotions or feelings that are characteristic of grief. The participants expressed significant sadness. They experienced helplessness and frustration about how to help their parent. There was a strong presence of fear regarding the family’s future.
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