Vécu de la situation d’aidant familial et strategies d’adaptations chez les proches des malades d’alzheimer du Cameroun et du Gabon

Abstract

This research paper, entitled "Experiences of family caregivers and coping strategies: the case of family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients in Cameroon and Gabon.," is situated within the framework of the transactional model of coping, which posits that in the face of an aversive stress-generating situation, coping strategies are developed based on primary and secondary appraisal. However, among family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients in Cameroon and Gabon, we found that it is the lived experience of the caregiving situation that is at the heart of the development of coping strategies. Hence, this study poses the problem of the role of the lived experience of the caregiving situation in the development of coping strategies among family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients in Cameroon and Gabon. This problem was concretized by the following research question: How does the lived experience of the caregiving situation contribute to the development of coping strategies among family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients in Cameroon and Gabon? To answer this question, we formulated the hypothesis that: Due to the cultural factors mobilized, the lived experience of the caregiving situation contributes to the development of coping strategies among family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients in Cameroon and Gabon. This is in order to understand the process by which the lived experience of the caregiving situation contributes to the development of coping strategies among family caregivers of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease in Cameroon and Gabon. To achieve this objective, we used the clinical method, particularly the case study method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, the proactive coping scale, and the mini Zarit from seven participants met at the Wellbeing associations in Yaoundé and APAC in Douala in Cameroon and the Geriatric Gerontology Center in Melen-Libreville in Gabon. The data collected were subjected to thematic content analysis. This analysis revealed that the lived experience of family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients is characterized by a sense of well-being, positive self-esteem, satisfaction in fulfilling a duty, and a need to provide a quality of life to a loved one. As a result, family caregivers express a sense of personal fulfillment and self-achievement in providing care to the sick person. Culture plays an undeniable role in the relationship of helping close parents who are sick.