Lived experience of caring for aging parents in middle-aged people: Hermeneutic study

Due to the decrease in fertility rate and the increase in the number of aging people, middle-aged adults are more important than ever as an important source for keeping elderly people in families. Understanding and insight into aging care by middle-aged people is necessary to promote health in middle age and old age. The present study was conducted with the aim of understanding the meaning of caring for aging parents in middle-aged people.

The current research is based on the interpretative phenomenological approach that was conducted in Tehran in 1401. 12 middle-aged caregivers of aging parents were selected by purposive sampling method. In-depth and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Then the text of the interviews was analyzed after writing with Van Manen's hermeneutic approach based on the reliability of the qualitative data.

4 themes were extracted from the data analysis (compassionate care, calm worried heart, unknown journey and dual atmosphere of home).

In this study, the meaning of caring of aging parents by the participants was a compassionate and responsible care, combined with calmness and worry, and the vagueness of the caregiving time in a safe and tense atmosphere. For this reason, middle-aged people were forced to sacrifice too much for their relatives and parents in order to continue living with their aging parents. Therefore, understanding the experiences and concerns of these people can be useful for providing counseling assistance to the middle-aged, policy makers, health providers (especially nurses) and gerontologists.