Safety accidents and coping experiences among family caregivers caring for community-dwelling persons living with dementia

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand experiences in safety accidents and coping among family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Methods: Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 10 family caregivers who are the main caregivers of community-dwelling persons living with dementia. Inductive qualitative content analysis was conducted to reveal themes. Results: Three major themes emerged in this study: 1) various safety accident experiences, 2) coping with safety accidents, and 3) concern for the prevention of safety accidents. Family caregivers experienced various risks when caring for their care recipients with reduced cognitive function and trying to cope with a tailored method for persons living with dementia. However, family caregivers eventually recognized that none of the methods were perfect for preventing dangers and looked forward to the emergence of new methods to ensure a safe environment. Conclusion: Dementia care services and tailored information and communications technology (ICT) should be provided to promote the safety of persons living with dementia and their family caregivers in the community environment.