FINDING A BALANCE POINT - A PROCESS CENTRAL TO UNDERSTANDING FAMILY CAREGIVING IN TAIWANESE FAMILIES

The grounded theory method was used to explore the psychosocial proces s of family caregiving to frail elders in Taiwan. Interview and observ ation data from 15 family caregivers were analyzed using constant comp arative analysis. Caregivers used the process of finding a balance poi nt to achieve or preserve equilibrium between and within caregiving an d family life. Caregivers who did better in finding a balance point pr ovided better quality care to frail elders. Caregivers who were good a t finding a balance point anticipated competing needs, conceptualized multiple strategies to meet the needs, and predicted accurately the co nsequences of the strategies. They described a wide variety of balanci ng strategies. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.