Mother-Adult Daughter Relationships Within Dementia Care

Authors

Catherine Ward-Griffin, University of Western Ontario
Abram Oudshoorn, University of Western Ontario
Kristie Clark, University of Western Ontario
Nancy Bol, University of Western Ontario

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2007

Journal

Journal of Family Nursing

Volume

13

Issue

1

First Page

13

Last Page

32

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1177/1074840706297424

Abstract

Evidence suggests that intergenerational caregiving between mothers and daughters will become increasingly common, and yet, we know very little about the specific relationships between adult daughters and their mothers with dementia. Guided by socialist-feminist theory and a life-course perspective, 15 mother-adult daughter dyads participated in two individual, semistructured interviews. Data analysis revealed four dynamic types of mother-daughter relationships: custodial, combative, cooperative, and cohesive. Custodial and cooperative relationships mainly focused on the provision of and receipt of tasks, whereas combative and cohesive are emotion focused. At the same time, custodial and combative relationships are based on deficits compared with strength based cohesive and cooperative relationships. In addition, certain contextual factors, such as expectations of care and levels of support, shaped the development of these relationships. Moreover, study findings highlight a number of implications for practice, policy, and research necessary to support individuals with dementia and their families.