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Dementia in rural settings: examining the experiences of former partners in care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2017

RACHEL V. HERRON  and
MARK W. ROSENBERG
RACHEL V. HERRON*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Brandon University, Canada.
MARK W. ROSENBERG
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Planning, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
*
Address for correspondence: Rachel Herron, Department of Geography, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MB, CanadaR7A 6A9 E-mail: herronr@brandonu.ca
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Abstract

Informal carers, also referred to as partners in care, provide the bulk of care to people living with dementia across a range of community settings; however, the changing experiences and contexts of providing informal care for people with dementia in rural settings are under-studied. Drawing on 27 semi-structured interviews with former partners in care in Southwestern and Northern Ontario, Canada, we examine experiences of providing and accessing care over the course of the condition and across various settings. Our findings illustrate the challenges associated with navigating the system of care, finding people who understand dementia in the surrounding community, negotiating hours of home support, facing resistance to respite from the person with dementia, and feeling pressured into long-term care. We argue that partners' time, bodies and choices are spatially constrained within rural and small-town settings and the current systems of home, community and long-term care.

Keywords

dementiaruralcaresettingstransitionsqualitativeCanada
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , February 2019 , pp. 340 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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