Abstract
BackgroundThe establishment of home-based care (HBC) programmes in developing countries has resulted in a shift of burden from hospitals to communities where palliative care is provided by voluntary home-based caregivers.AimThe study investigated the impact of caregiving on voluntary home-based caregivers.SettingThe study was conducted at HBC organisations located in Mutale Municipality of Limpopo Province, South Africa.MethodsA quantitative cross-sectional descriptive survey design was applied to investigate the impact of caregiving on voluntary home-based caregivers. The sample was comprised of (N = 190) home-based caregivers. Home-based caregivers provide care to people in need of care in their homes, such as orphans, the elderly and those suffering from chronic illnesses such as tuberculosis, HIV and/or AIDS, cancer and stroke. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data which were analysed descriptively using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software, Version 20.ResultsThe results showed that 101 (53.2%) participants were worried about their financial security because they were not registered as workers, whilst 74 (39.0%) participants were always worried about getting infection from their clients because they often do not have protective equipment.ConclusionVoluntary home-based caregivers have an important role in the provision of palliative care to people in their own homes, and therefore, the negative caregiving impact on the lives of caregivers may compromise the provision of quality palliative care.
Highlights
Home-based care (HBC) programmes throughout the world were found to be effective in easing healthcare institutions such as hospitals of overcrowding, and people who were suffering from chronic illnesses were cared for at home by family members
In South Africa: home-based care programmes are directed at healthy people, risk or frail older persons, risk people with moderate to severe functional disabilities, people recovering from illness who are in need of assistance, terminally ill persons, persons living with HIV/AIDS or any other chronic disease and any other disadvantaged group/person in need of care as stipulated in the national guidelines.[4]
The results of this study indicated that voluntary home-based caregivers were always worried about their future because they were not registered as workers and felt emotionally stressed
Summary
Home-based care (HBC) programmes throughout the world were found to be effective in easing healthcare institutions such as hospitals of overcrowding, and people who were suffering from chronic illnesses were cared for at home by family members. In the United States, ‘most elderly people prefer to be cared for at home even though there is no infrastructure to support the provision of high quality home-based care’.1. Home-based caregivers in the United States experienced ‘physical, emotional and economic pressure resulting from long-term caregiving demands, which even lead to burnout of people caring for chronically ill home-bound individuals’.2. The establishment of HBC programmes in developing countries such as South Africa has ‘resulted in a shift of burden from hospitals to the community where palliative care is provided by voluntary home-based caregivers’.3. The establishment of home-based care (HBC) programmes in developing countries has resulted in a shift of burden from hospitals to communities where palliative care is provided by voluntary home-based caregivers
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