Dying with dementia : perspectives of adult women on the death of a parent

This study records the experiences of three women participants who lost a loving parent suffering with dementia. This is an in-depth examination of the grieving experiences of these participants, concentrating on their pre-death grieving processes, the moment of death and the post-death grieving processes. The small number of participants allowed for a detailed scope of their experiences in order to fully understand the essence of their grieving. In analyzing the data that the multiple open-ended question interviews provided, some similarities were noted in the experience of each participant. Each describes the pre-death process as being one of both grieving and adjustment. All three participants were informal caregivers for their parents. Each one reached a point when the care for the parent could no longer be managed within the confines of the home and the decision had to be made to turn the care of the suffering parent over to a nursing home. This was a significant decision for each of the participants but one that brought temporary relief. The pinnacle of their grieving was the death of their parent. In the post-death grieving, each of the participants expressed a sense of relief intertwined with sadness. They all relate that they still have moments of grief that are very intense but pass quickly. The unique qualities of the participants' stories are presented in their own words. The changing of ego states is discussed, in addition to the implications of being a woman with other responsibilities and how that it impacts on the grieving process.