Male caregivers' use of formal support

The purpose of this study was to explore male caregivers' perceptions of fo rmal support. The men were caregivers of adults with cognitive impairment T he study involved secondary analysis of interview data on perceptions of su pport that had not been previously analyzed from the perspective of formal support. Techniques of data analysis used in grounded theory were applied t o 62 guided interactive interviews conducted with 24 male caregivers during a period of 18 months. The men experienced a process of making concessions for care in the following four sequential stages: resisting giving in, ope ning the door and making the match. personal barriers deterred the caregive rs from seeking help. and once the caregivers engaged formal help the influ ence of characteristics of the health care system and individual staff memb ers had both enabling and disabling effects. For caregivers whose use of fo rmal support involved admitting their relative to a long-term care facility , the phase of making the match was followed by redesigning their caregiver role.