Hoe zwaar weegt de mantel?: determinanten van de ervaren zorgbelasting bij Vlaamse mantelzorgers

Abstract

Providing informal care may be perceived as a considerable burden by the caregiver and result in mental and physical health problems. This article focuses on the perceived care burden of informal carers (N = 1816) of a severely disabled person, making use of data of the postal survey “Informal care in Flanders”. Based on the stress-appraisal model of Yates, Tennstedt & Chang (1999) and role theory, 4 types of determinants are being discerned: the intensity of caregiving, resources and other roles of the informal carer, and background- and contextvariables. Results show that women and carers of a spouse or child feel more burdened, as well as carers providing more intensive care and persons who report a lower relationship quality with the care receiver. Help received with caregiving and other roles of the informal carers have only a minor influence and show mixed results.