Abstract
Background:The prevalence of chronic diseases has been rapidly increased due to population aging. As the duration of care needs increase, the caregivers’ socioeconomic burdens have also increased.Objective:This review examines the attributes of caregiving experience and quality of life of caregivers in Korea with a focus on the application of nursing theory.Method:We reviewed studies on caregivers’ caring for adult patients published till 2016 in 4 bio-medical research portal websites or data bases. A total of 1,939 studies were identified through the keyword search. One hundred forty five studies were selected by a process; of which, 17 studies were theory-applied. Selected studies were analyzed in accordance with the structured analysis format.Results:Quantitative studies accounted for 76.6%, while 22.1% were qualitative studies and 1.3% were triangulation studies. Caregiver-related studies increased after 2000. Most frequently, the caregivers were spouses (28.4%), and most frequently, care was provided to a recipient affected by stroke (22.5%). The 17 theory-based studies described 20 theories (70% psychology theories, 30% nursing theories). The most frequent nursing theory was the theory of stress, appraisal and coping.Conclusion:This study sought to better understand caregiving through the analysis of Korean studies on the caregiving experience and caregivers’ QOL and this finding helped presenting empirical data for nursing by identifying the nursing theories applied to the caregiving experience and caregivers’ QOL. The results suggest that the need for further expansion of nursing theories and their greater utilization in the studies of caregiving.
Highlights
With the rapid development of medical technology and extension of life expectancy, the number of individuals living to an older age has been increasing globally
This study sought to better understand caregiving through the analysis of Korean studies on the caregiving experience and caregivers’ quality of life (QOL) and this finding helped presenting empirical data for nursing by identifying the nursing theories applied to the caregiving experience and caregivers’ QOL
There were studies on the caregivers of patients suffering from mental illness, hemodialysis, brain and spinal cord injury, liver disease, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease
Summary
With the rapid development of medical technology and extension of life expectancy, the number of individuals living to an older age has been increasing globally. The Open Nursing Journal, 2018, Volume 12 27 this is forecasted to reach 27% by 2050. As the duration of care and care requirements increase, the caregivers’ socioeconomic burdens have increased. Caregivers mean that individuals providing care to a patient without compensation, such as spouses, family members, friends, or neighbors. While caregivers were mostly spouses in the past, increasingly, young adults especially female family member have assumed the role of caregivers for aging parents suffering from chronic disease [3, 4]. The prevalence of chronic diseases has been rapidly increased due to population aging. As the duration of the requirement of care increased, the caregivers’ socioeconomic burdens have increased
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