‘We Are Managing’: Challenges and Coping Strategies of Family Caregivers in a Short Term Hospitalization in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Abstract

Caring for a sick relative is not without challenges. Family members who leave their homes to care for a sick relative in an unfamiliar hospital environment encounter more challenges than those who provide care in their familiar home environment. This hospital ethnography was carried out in one of the secondary hospitals in Ghana. Thirty-two caregivers were sampled using the purposive sampling technique. Data was collected through the semi structured interview guide. Using the qualitative exploratory case study, the study revealed that the challenges facing family caregivers are multidimensional. These challenges are classified into three major groups: institutional, environmental, and financial. In response to these challenges, caregivers developed different strategies such as denying themselves some pleasures of life, developing faith in God through prayers and giving the identification card given them by the hospital authority to other relatives who are not recognised by the health professionals as caregivers.