Date
4-29-2026
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Michael Howard
Keywords
caregiver experiences, death of an elderly parent, grief experiences of male Christian caregivers, male Christian caregiver experiences, end-of-life care
Disciplines
Counseling | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Moore, Audrea Maurine, "Experiences of Male Christian Adult Caregivers Following an Elderly Parent’s Death" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8322.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8322
Abstract
The death of a parent was a stressful and traumatic event that was characterized by both struggles and personal growth. These struggles were necessary to the process of meaning-making and posttraumatic growth in difficult life experiences, such as the death of a parent. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of male, Christian caregivers following the death of their elderly parents in the Southeastern United States. The main research question of this study was how male Christian caregivers describe their experience following the death of their elderly parent. In this study, elderly parent was defined as mother, father, or parent in-law. Meaning reconstruction theory served as the theoretical framework for the study to highlight the experience of male Christian caregivers following the death of an elderly parent. This study utilized an ontological view of the role of the meaning-making, faith, and hope utilized to cope with the challenges of the experiences for male adult caregivers following the death of their parent. Hermeneutic traditions were applied to address any researcher bias and prior knowledge on the topic. The primary sources of data collection included an initial open-ended questionnaire, individual interviews, focus groups, and journal entries. Data analysis techniques included open coding and horizontalization. Categorical aggregation and directly interpreting the themes that emerged were employed. The findings of this research described the unique experiences of male Christian caregivers emphasizing meaning-making, posttraumatic growth, and spirituality.
