Dependent care, caregiver burden, hardiness, and self-care agency of caregivers

Abstract Purpose Relatives are often involved in caregiving for patients with advanced cancer and carry a heavy burden. Self-care and resilience might be beneficial to enhance their wellbeing and burden-bearing capacity. This study assessed the engagement in self-care and resilience in relatives of patients with advanced cancer and its association with their caregiver burden. Methods This study analyzed baseline data of the eQuiPe study, a prospective longitudinal, multicenter, observational study on quality of care and life of patients with advanced cancer and their relatives in which self-care (Self-care Practices Scale), resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), and caregiver burden (Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI)) of relatives were included. Their scores were compared with a gender- and age-matched normative population. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between self-care and resilience with caregiver burden. Results Most of the 746 relatives were the patient’s partner (78%) and 54% reported to be an informal caregiver of the patient. The median hours of caregiving a week for all relatives was 15 and 11% experienced high caregiver burden (ZBI > 20). Relatives who reported a high caregiver burden engaged less often in self-care (OR = .87) and were less resilient (OR = .76) compared to relatives with low/medium caregiver burden. Relatives with high caregiver burden were younger (OR = .96), highly educated (OR = 2.08), often reported to be an informal caregiver of the patient (OR = 2.24), and were less well informed about the importance of self-care (OR = .39). Conclusion A significant number of relatives of patients with advanced cancer experienced high caregiver burden. As more self-care and resilience were associated with lower experienced caregiver burden, creating awareness of the beneficial potential of self-care is important. Future studies should illuminate the causal relation. Trial registration number NTR6584 (date of registration: 30 June 2017)

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Self‐care agency and self‐care practice in youth workers reduces burnout risk and improves compassion satisfaction

Drug and Alcohol Review ◽

10.1111/dar.13209 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Karen T. Hallam ◽

Danielle Leigh ◽

Cassandra Davis ◽

Nathan Castle ◽

Jenny Sharples ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Self Care ◽

Compassion Satisfaction ◽

Care Practice ◽

Youth Workers ◽

Burnout Risk ◽

Care Agency

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Association between self-care agency and depression and anxiety in patients with diabetic retinopathy

BMC Ophthalmology ◽

10.1186/s12886-021-01883-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bo Zhang ◽

Qin Wang ◽

Xuancan Zhang ◽

Li Jiang ◽

Lezhi Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diabetic Retinopathy ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Self Care ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Clinical Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

History Of ◽

Care Agency

Abstract Background This study aimed at investigating: 1) the relationship between self-care agency and depression and anxiety; 2) the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with depression and anxiety in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. One-hundred and five patients with DR were recruited. Self-care agency was assessed by the exercise of self-care agency (ESCA) scale. Depression and anxiety were assessed by the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS-D and HADS-A). Pearson or Spearman correlations were performed to assess the association between self-care agency and depression and anxiety. Stepwise multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the contribution of the sociodemographic and clinical factors to depression and anxiety. Results Thirty-six (34.3%) and 43 (41.1%) patients exhibited depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Only 24 (22.9%) patients showed a high self-care agency. The ESCA total and subscale scores were negatively correlated depressive symptoms (P < 0.05). Self-care skills were negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms (P < 0.05). ESCA total score, rural residence, history of hypertension and visual acuity were associated with depression; self-care skills and diastolic blood pressure were associated with anxiety. Conclusions Self-care agency negatively correlates with depression and anxiety in patients with DR. Special attention should be paid to patients living in rural areas and/or those having a history of hypertension when assessing depression and anxiety in patients with DR. Future studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship between self-care agency and depression and anxiety.

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