一位家庭照顧者在愛的勞務中之自處－－面對它、接受它、處理它、放下它

A Family Caregiver's Experience of Care-Giving on Her Own: 'Face It', 'Accept It', 'Deal with It' and 'Let It Go'

在地老化是當前社區化長期照護的重要政策之一，高齡化社會中居家擔任家庭照顧之角色者已逐年在增加。本個案研究之焦點在於探討一位擔任家庭照顧的女性如何面對與因應獨自承擔長期照顧的重擔。從個案訪談中發現，家庭照顧者在愛的勞務中之自處歷程，恰如聖嚴法師所提出解決人生困境的「四它」－－面對它、接受它、處理它、放下它。專業人員若深入瞭解照顧者的心境，提供資訊並鼓勵照顧者採取相關資源協助，可協助家庭照顧者能真正的釋懷，進入「放下它」的境界。

”Aging in place” has become one of the important policies promoting long-term care in the community. In the aging societies of today, the need for family caregivers to care for the elderly has increased. How one woman coped with shouldering the heavy burden of providing long-term family care alone were the main interests of this case study. From interviewing the subject it was discovered that her attitude to the labor of love that is care-giving was the same as the four great vows for handling problems that Master Sheng Yen proposes: ”face it”, ”accept it”, ”deal with it”, and ”let it go”. Health professionals could help family caregivers to take things more easily and enter the state of ”letting it go” by deeply understanding the perception of the caregiver, providing useful information, and encouraging the caregiver to make use of resources that are available for assistance.