Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyse the subjective perception of stress burden in family caregivers, especially those caring for disabled and elderly persons. The tool for quantifying the burden was the Meister questionnaire, which describes the basic dimensions of overload in ten items. These were divided into three factors: overload, monotony and the non-specific factor. The research tool was a standardised questionnaire distributed via a snowball method to a group of 484 family caregivers who cared for a person with disability. The findings show that they have to largely rely on the support of social services. Their burden is characterised by the prevalence of the overload factor. The findings also indicate that there is an urgent call among health professionals to identify and treat caregivers’ psychological distress by applying relevant intervention strategies, which could reduce this distress and prevent caregivers’ burnout. Future research should concentrate on the efficacy of intervention strategies which would reduce the overall burden of family caregivers and nurture the family as a whole.
Highlights
This study focuses on the topic of the caregiver’s burden—the stress, subjectively perceived by family caregivers as a result of the care they provide to disabled persons
A significant social pressure is pushing forward the processes of the deinstitutionalisation of the care provided to the disabled persons, in particular, the initiatives which allow the disabled persons to live in a natural family environment
The results show that family caregivers in the Czech Republic identify a significant stress burden based on the workload associated with caring for people with disabilities
Summary
This study focuses on the topic of the caregiver’s burden—the stress, subjectively perceived by family caregivers as a result of the care they provide to disabled persons. A significant social pressure is pushing forward the processes of the deinstitutionalisation of the care provided to the disabled persons, in particular, the initiatives which allow the disabled persons to live in a natural family environment. Under these circumstances, the support provided to the family caregiving system and the caregivers themselves turns out to be a highly important topic. Under the term “family caregivers of the disabled persons”, we understand people providing care to family members who themselves cannot fulfil their needs Those family members may be the caregiver’s wife/husband, parent, child, or sister/brother. This kind of caregiving generates stressful situations caused by the demanding caregiving activities (treatments, education, personal assistance, organizing free time activities, etc.), and by a strong feeling of commitment and responsibility for the family member they are taking care of
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