scholarly journals The Burnout of Informal Caregivers: Contemporary Perceptions and Research Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
V.V. Bocharov ◽  
A.M. Shishkova

The central theme of the paper is the fundamental possibility of using the theoretical construct of burnout in relation to relatives caring for chronically ill patients. Based on the overview of contemporary literature and the results of our empirical studies, we show that the concept of burnout differs from the concept of burden widespread in clinical psychology. One of the most relevant models for studying burnout of relatives taking care of chronically ill patients proves to be the Informal Caregiving Integrative Model (ICIM). ICIM is based on the Model of Career Stress and Burden and Job Demands-Resources Model. Analysis of the main components of ICIM (determinants, mediators, specific outcomes, general outcomes) and their circularity interactions shows the multifaceted nature of informal caregivers’ burnout. We conclude that further development of the conceptual framework and appropriate assessment tools for studying the emotional burnout of informal caregivers is necessary.

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-118
Author(s):  
A.M. Shishkova ◽  
V.V. Bocharov ◽  
O.Y. Strizhitskaya ◽  
A.Ja Vuks

Psychometric properties of “The Level of Relatives’ Emotional Burnout” measure (LREB) based on a sample of 297 chemically addicted patients’ relatives are presented. The assessment tool was developed with regard to the field of application — the interaction of family members. Along with the classical burnout symptoms (exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievements reduction), LREB makes it possible to evaluate aspects of the informal caregivers’ personal activity (in particular, dedication, self-efficacy in the treatment of the ill relative), which potentially protect from burnout as a result of taking care for the chronically ill relative. The analysis revealed good psychometric characteristics of the LREB in terms of reliability, internal structural, convergent and divergent validity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-111
Author(s):  
Davies Simukoko ◽  
◽  
David Mulenga ◽  
Victor Mwanakasale ◽  
◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lang ◽  
Martin Mayr ◽  
Stefan Ringbauer ◽  
Lukas Cepek

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Adherence constitutes a great challenge for disease management, particularly when treating chronically ill patients facing an extensive, complex and long-term therapy. Earlier studies emphasize the relevance of adherence for improving therapy benefits. Besides the positive impact of increased patient support, the use of mobile health applications has gained importance in disease management. Objective: We aimed to develop a software application providing innovative features to simplify the contact between patients and treating physicians in order to overcome adherence barriers, to implement risk management plans and to collect patient reported outcome data. Methods: A novel software application ensuring data security was developed. Various innovative modules have been implemented, enabling bidirectional communication between treating physicians and patients, supporting therapy monitoring and management and allowing the collection of large sets of anonymous patient data. Results: The PatientConcept app is freely available for download and is tested since 2016, with more than 1800 generated patient IDs and 279 patients documenting health data according to risk management plans online in 2017. The impact on adherence issues is currently tested in larger patient populations. Conclusion: This innovative app provides a feasible and cost-optimized possibility to intensify and simplify the communication between patients and their treating physicians across indications, thus promising an exceptional benefit to both. It may not only support chronically ill patients in managing their daily life and improving adherence, but can also facilitate the implementation of risk management plans through automated monitoring, thus supporting physicians in their daily routine. Furthermore, patient reported outcome data can be collected. Importantly, a secure ID-associated data management ensures patient anonymity complying with highest data safety standards.


Author(s):  
Jacob Stegenga

Medical scientists employ ‘quality assessment tools’ to assess evidence from medical research, especially from randomized trials. These tools are designed to take into account methodological details of studies, including randomization, subject allocation concealment, and other features of studies deemed relevant to minimizing bias. There are dozens of such tools available. They differ widely from each other, and empirical studies show that they have low inter-rater reliability and low inter-tool reliability. This is an instance of a more general problem called here the underdetermination of evidential significance. Disagreements about the quality of evidence can be due to different—but in principle equally good—weightings of the methodological features that constitute quality assessment tools. Thus, the malleability of empirical research in medicine is deep: in addition to the malleability of first-order empirical methods, such as randomized trials, there is malleability in the tools used to evaluate first-order methods.


Author(s):  
Sarah Kianfar ◽  
Ann Schoofs Hundt ◽  
Peter L.T. Hoonakker ◽  
Doreen Salek ◽  
Janet Tomcavage ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Franz Knappik ◽  
Josef J. Bless ◽  
Frank Larøi

AbstractBoth in research on Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVHs) and in their clinical assessment, it is common to distinguish between voices that are experienced as ‘inner’ (or ‘internal’, ‘inside the head’, ‘inside the mind’, ...) and voices that are experienced as ‘outer’ (‘external’, ‘outside the head’, ‘outside the mind’, ...). This inner/outer-contrast is treated not only as an important phenomenological variable of AVHs, it is also often seen as having diagnostic value. In this article, we argue that the distinction between ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ voices is ambiguous between different readings, and that lack of disambiguation in this regard has led to flaws in assessment tools, diagnostic debates and empirical studies. Such flaws, we argue furthermore, are often linked to misreadings of inner/outer-terminology in relevant 19th and early twentieth century work on AVHs, in particular, in connection with Kandinsky’s and Jaspers’s distinction between hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations.


Author(s):  
Julian Wangler ◽  
Michael Jansky

Summary Background Disease management programs (DMPs) were set up in Germany in 2003 to improve outpatient care of chronically ill patients. The present study looks at the attitudes and experiences of general practitioners (GPs) in relation to DMPs, how they rate them almost 20 years after their introduction and where they see a need for improvement. Methods A total of 1504 GPs in the Federal States of Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse were surveyed between December 2019 and March 2020 using a written questionnaire. Results In total, 58% of respondents rate DMPs positively and regard them as making a useful contribution to primary care. The guarantee of regular, structured patient care and greater compliance are regarded as particularly positive aspects. It was also established that diagnostic and therapeutic knowledge was expanded through participation in DMPs. 57% essentially follow the DMP recommendations for (drug) treatment. Despite positive experiences of DMPs in patient care, the GPs surveyed mention various challenges (documentation requirements, frequent changes to the programmes, inflexibility). Univariant linear regression analysis revealed factors influencing the satisfaction with DMPs, such as improvement of compliance and clearly defined procedures in medical care. Conclusion Most of the GPs surveyed consider the combination of continuous patient care and evidence-based diagnosis and treatment to be a great advantage. To better adapt DMPs to the conditions of primary care, it makes sense to simplify the documentation requirements, to regulate cooperation with other healthcare levels more clearly and to give GPs more decision-making flexibility. Increased inclusion of GP experience in the process of developing and refining DMPs can be helpful.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devan Kansagara ◽  
Rebecca S. Ramsay ◽  
David Labby ◽  
Somnath Saha

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