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American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias logoLink to American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
. 2010 Sep;25(6):521–526. doi: 10.1177/1533317510377171

To Be a Good Food Provider: An Exploratory Study Among Spouses of Persons With Alzheimer’s Disease

Christina Fjellström 1, Åsa Starkenberg 2, Annika Wesslén, MS Licentiate 3, Ann-Christine Tysén Bäckström 4, Gerd Faxén-Irving 5; The OmegAD Study Group
PMCID: PMC10845354  PMID: 20724378

Abstract

Large proportions of people with dementia live at home and need help from a relative. The aim of the current study was to examine how people living with persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) perceived everyday life aspects of food choices, cooking, and food-related work. The analyses are based on focus group interviews including women and men acting as caregivers to people with AD and living in Sweden. The main results identified from the data, were how cohabitants to persons with AD struggle with either taking on a new role as a food provider or extending it, but also how they tried to cope as carer, which entailed food being an important part of the treatment of the disease. Those expressing greatest concern were those perceiving themselves as inexperienced food providers and carers, which in this study were all men.

Keywords: food provider, roles, food knowledge, dementia, gender, qualitative study

Full Text

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Contributor Information

Christina Fjellström, Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, christina.fjellstrom@ikv.uu.se .

Åsa Starkenberg, Department of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

M.S. Licentiate, MEDEA Consultant Bureau, Uppsala, Sweden.

Ann-Christine Tysén Bäckström, Department of Geriatrics, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.

Gerd Faxén-Irving, Division of Clinical Nutrition, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden, Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.

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