Abstract
Being a housewife may already be a psychosocial risk factor leading to chronic stress and burnout, and this may be aggravated when the housewife must also become the caregiver of a family member with Alzheimer’s. The burnout syndrome and how it can affect general health and the presence of emotional disorders were studied in housewives who were family caregivers of an Alzheimer’s patient. The sample selected was made up of 193 housewives, 96 of whom were also caregivers for a family member with Alzheimer’s. Sociodemographic measures used were the Maslach Burnout Inventory and The General Health Questionnaire. Burnout was found in a significant percentage of participants. Emotional exhaustion, effect on general health, and presence of emotional disorders were higher in caregivers. Emotional exhaustion, general health, and anxiety were more influential, while depersonalization affected the appearance of depressive symptoms more. Being a caregiver and emotional exhaustion appeared to be the best predictors of emotional disorders. It was confirmed that emotional exhaustion influenced appearance of anxiety and depression equally in both groups. In the case of caregivers, an exhaustion-illness spiral was produced. In this group, emotional exhaustion seemed to become more severe as a consequence of the presence of chronic illnesses, and possibly influence the number of hours spent on care and having children living at home. Future research should analyze in greater depth and in a larger sample, the role of these variables and widen the focus of attention to personal variables that could be acting as protective factors and could be subject to intervention. The discussion concludes with some actions that should be included in prevention programs for the groups studied.
Highlights
At the present time, studies on the burnout syndrome have proliferated due to its growing prevalence and repercussions on both the person and the organization they work for
We focused on caregivers, studies suggest a heavier impact on health in general, and emotional disorders, among women with low self-efficacy, and those who do not work outside of the home, that is, whose activity is limited to being a housewife (Pascual, 2001; Duggleby et al, 2016)
When the two groups were compared, it was found that 5.7% of HW had burnout, a percentage only slightly surpassed in the HWC group (6.2%)
Summary
Studies on the burnout syndrome have proliferated due to its growing prevalence and repercussions on both the person and the organization they work for. When it is elderly women who need help, the order is reversed, and it is the daughters who are most often the caregivers, followed by other family members or friends In most cases, it is the housewife, the woman who is devoted only to care of the home, who maintains a direct affective relationship with the patient, and the one who takes on the role of “informal” caregiver, often taking on the full care load (Gil et al, 2015), exposing her to additional stress marked by overwork and strong emotional demands, along with lack of recognition or help and the impossibility of changing the situation, which could explain the increased risk of burnout (Son et al, 2007; Moral et al, 2011; Pinquart et al, 2012; Rivera and Requena, 2013). The final purpose was to determine the importance of this problem in the group subject of study so proposals for action can be integrated in social-healthcare intervention programs directed at developing general support policies for these women
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