The Experience of Husband Caring for Wife with Early-Onset DEMENTIA

Purpose: Recently, Korea s rapid increase in the elderly population and the prevalence of dementia have emerged as a serious social problem due to the world s fastest aging population. Moreover, as the number of dementia patients is increasing rapidly among people in their 30s and 50s, interest in early onset dementia and the burden of caregivers for dementia patients are increasing. Method: Participants in this study were 7 spouses who have been taking care of early onset dementia wives who was diagnosed with dementia before the age of 65 for more than one year. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using the grounded theory method suggested by Strauss and Corbin(1998). Results: The experience of going through process of husbands caring for early-onset dementia wives proceeds through four stages of recognizing the change , denying , trying , and accepting , and the core category is accepting the wife s dementia. Types of accepting dementia were classified into three types: active coping type , accommodative type , and helpless type . Conclusion: Through this research, the characteristics of early-onset dementia patients were under-stood, the theoretical basis for the caring process was established, and the importance of professional education and active promotion on early dementia was suggested for early detection and accurate diag-nosis of diseases. Also, this study is expected to be a good foundation for the development of specialized programs that consider the characteristics of early onset dementia, establishment of nursing strategies and national support system.