The well-being of family members as informal caregivers of persons with stroke in an African context: Understanding their lived experience

Author(s):  
Lee-Ann Jacobs-Nzuzi Khuabi ◽  
◽  
Juanita Bester ◽  
Maatje Kloppers ◽  
Bianca Crous ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-126
Author(s):  
Suridah Ali ◽  
Rahimah Abdul Aziz ◽  
Mimi Hanida Abdul Mutalib

Malaysia is expected to become the elder country by the year 2035 and elderly caregiving is the main issue in the old population. Although the elderly are expected to live for a longer period, half of them are in an unhealthy condition, sick and suffering from the disease. Thus, they need to be taken care of for a longer period formally or informally. However, most of the family members have chosen to take care of the elderly informally. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to identify the problems that are faced by the caregivers on long-term caregiving of the elderly. Informal caregivers need to encounter a financial problem, affected health, difficulty in determining the caregiving rotation and lack of knowledge or information pertaining to elderly caregiving. Hence, the roles of caregiving in the long-term period could burden and affect the informal caregivers’ well-being.      


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Fatima Saleh ◽  
Catherine S. O’Neill

Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the lived experience of caregivers providing home care for terminally ill family members, with the objectives of describing their experiences of caring for relatives who are terminally ill with cancer and the needs of home caregiving in Bahrain.Methods: The study adopted a Heideggerian, hermeneutic phenomenological design, with a purposive sample of eight family caregivers. Data was generated through one to one, in-depth interviews and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.Results: Three main themes emerged from the data: (1) the burden of care, (2) comforts, and (3) coping. The findings showed that the lived experience of home caregiving includes physical, emotional and financial burdens, combined with a lack of professional support. The collective experience was infused with intense emotions because of a lack of structured support, resulting in negative emotions that frequently affected the caregivers’ well-being and their ability to care for the ill person. Nevertheless, caregivers tried to maintain care and comforts for their terminally ill relative in the home. They adopted the home environment, arranged resources to ease caring and provided psychological care. Caregivers utilized three coping mechanisms, faith, personal strategies and distribution of the care responsibilities among family members.Conclusions: Caregivers were not prepared for the commitment and burdens of home care when a family member is terminally ill. A recommendation from the study findings is that training be offered on nursing care before patients discharge. In addition, a reactivation of the palliative care clinic hotline service would support family caregivers. A further recommendation is that home nursing care and hospice services be established to improve homecare services for family caregivers in Bahrain.


2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilse Steenkamp ◽  
Johan Potgieter

Family members as well as informal caregivers are increasingly bearing the responsibility of taking care of persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2000:5). The intensity of the caregiving process and the variety of stressors caregivers are exposed to (Uys, 2002:101-102; De Figueiredo & Turato, 2001:637-640; Flaskerud, Carter & Lee, 2000:128), have been well researched and documented. In this study, the salutogenic perspective was used to determine the sense of coherence of a group of eight informal caregivers. This perspective serves as one of the theories within the movement of positive psychology, where the focus is on the origins of psychological well-being. The results of the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and the analysis of semi- structured interviews revealed a number of general resistance resources that have a positive influence on the caregivers’ sense of coherence, as well as their psychological well-being. These results may lead to the development of a psycho-educational program which will assist caregivers in maintaining their psychological well-being in spite of the stressors associated with caregiving. Opsomming Versorging van persone gediagnoseer met MIV/VIGS word toenemend die verantwoordelikheid van die pasiënte se familielede en informele versorgers (UNAIDS, 2000:5). Die intensiteit van die versorgingstaak, en die verskeidenheid stressore waaraan versorgers blootgestel word, is reeds goed nagevors en gedokumenteer (Uys, 2002:101-102; De Figueiredo & Turato, 2001:637-640; Flaskerud, Carter & Lee, 2000:128). In hierdie studie is die salutogene perspektief aangewend om die koherensiesin van ‘n groep bestaande uit agt informele versorgers te ondersoek. Hierdie perspektief dien as een van die teorieë binne die beweging van die positiewe sielkunde waar gefokus word op die oorsprong van psigologiese welstand. Die resultate van die Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) en die ontleding van semigestruktureerde onderhoude het ‘n aantal algemene weerstandshulpbronne aan die lig gebring wat ‘n positiewe invloed gehad het op die versorgers se koherensiesin, asook hul psigologiese welstand. Hierdie resultate mag lei tot die samestelling van ‘n program wat versorgers sal help met die handhawing van hul sielkundige welstand te midde van die stressore wat met die versorgingstaak gepaardgaan.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Narendra Kumar Singh ◽  
Nishant Goyal

Background: Schizophrenia is associated with a high familial, social and economic burden. Schizophrenia is also associated with a high level of disability which may create impediments on the social and economic areas of the patients as well as on their respective family networks. Families with schizophrenia may encounter problems such as impairment of health and well being of other family members, restriction of social activities of the family members and shrinking of support from the social network. Aims: The present study examined the difference in perceived social support and burden of care between the male and female caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study examining the difference in perceived social support and burden of care between the male and female caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. The sample consisted of 60 (30 male and 30 female) caregivers of the patients with the diagnosis of schizophrenia as per ICD-10-DCR. Results and Conclusion: This study revealed that male caregivers perceived more social support and less burden of care as compared to female caregivers. Key words: Gender, social support, burden


Climate change is a profoundly social and political challenge with many social justice concerns around every corner. A global issue, climate change threatens the well-being, livelihood, and survival of people in communities worldwide. Often, those who have contributed least to climate change are the most likely to suffer from its negative consequences and are often excluded from the policy discussions and decisions that affect their lives. This book pays particular attention to the social dimensions of climate change. It examines closely people’s lived experience, climate-related injustice and inequity, why some groups are more vulnerable than others, and what can be done about it—especially through greater community inclusion in policy change. A highlight of the book is its diversity of rich, community-based examples from throughout the Global South and North. Sacrificial flood zones in urban Argentina, forced relocation of United Houma tribal members in the United States, and gendered water insecurities in Bangladesh and Australia are just some of the in-depth cases included in the book. Throughout, the book asks social and political questions about climate change. Of key importance, it asks what can be done about the unequal consequences of climate change by questioning and transforming social institutions and arrangements—guided by values that prioritize the experience of affected groups and the inclusion of diverse voices and communities in the policy process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S235-S235
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Kong ◽  
Yin Liu ◽  
David Almeida

Abstract Extensive evidence suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can lead to negative health effects across a lifetime. This study examines the impact of ACEs on the frequency of providing daily support (i.e., unpaid assistance, emotional support, and disability-related assistance) to family members and the moderating effects of ACEs in the association between providing daily support to family and daily negative affect. Using the National Study of Daily Experiences II, we analyzed a total of 14,912 daily interviews from 2,022 respondents aged 56 on average. Key results showed that a greater number of ACEs were associated with providing more frequent emotional support to family. We also found the significant interaction effect that adults with more ACEs showed greater negative affect on the days when they provided assistance to family members with disabilities. The findings underscore the long-term negative impact of ACEs on daily well-being in the context of family relationships.


Author(s):  
Caradee Yael Wright ◽  
Candice Eleanor Moore ◽  
Matthew Chersich ◽  
Rebecca Hester ◽  
Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle ◽  
...  

The health sector response to dealing with the impacts of climate change on human health, whether mitigative or adaptive, is influenced by multiple factors and necessitates creative approaches drawing on resources across multiple sectors. This short communication presents the context in which adaptation to protect human health has been addressed to date and argues for a holistic, transdisciplinary, multisectoral and systems approach going forward. Such a novel health-climate approach requires broad thinking regarding geographies, ecologies and socio-economic policies, and demands that one prioritises services for vulnerable populations at higher risk. Actions to engage more sectors and systems in comprehensive health-climate governance are identified. Much like the World Health Organization’s ‘Health in All Policies’ approach, one should think health governance and climate change together in a transnational framework as a matter not only of health promotion and disease prevention, but of population security. In an African context, there is a need for continued cross-border efforts, through partnerships, blending climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, and long-term international financing, to contribute towards meeting sustainable development imperatives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233372142110201
Author(s):  
M. Courtney Hughes ◽  
Yujun Liu ◽  
Abby Baumbach

Background: In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or COVID-19, raised worldwide concern. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively influenced health and wellness across the globe and caused nearly three million deaths. This study focuses on informal caregivers of people with dementia, a disease that affects about 50 million older adults worldwide and requires much caregiving support. Objective: Examine the current literature on the impact of COVID-19 on the health and well-being of informal caregivers for people with dementia. Method: This rapid review was conducted across five electronic databases for quantitative and qualitative articles published through March 15, 2021. Results: The 10 studies included in this review reported quantitative descriptive data from across the globe; however, no studies existed from the U.S. or East Asia countries. All of the studies examined the psychological rather than physical impact of COVID-19 and highlighted risk and protective factors in the areas of psychosocial (resilience, neuropsychiatric, and social isolation), sociodemographic (gender and education), and environmental (home confinement, living arrangement, and dementia stage). Conclusion: COVID-19 has had a considerable negative impact on the psychological well-being of informal caregivers of people with dementia, namely causing more depression and anxiety than pre-pandemic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110009
Author(s):  
Li Ping Wong ◽  
Sik Loo Tan ◽  
Haridah Alias ◽  
Thiam Eng Sia ◽  
Aik Saw

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a hold on the Silent Mentor Programme (SMP); this pause has not only caused unprecedented challenges for the delivery of medical education but has forced changes in the programme ceremony sessions. We aimed to describe the psychological impact and experiences of family members of silent mentors during the COVID-19 pandemic using qualitative interviews. Many expressed feelings of remorse and unrest about the unprecedented delay of the SMP. The delay increased negative emotions particularly among some elderly family members; however, there was no prominent negative effect on their functional health and well-being. Several participants relayed the belief that the soul cannot rest until the body receives a proper burial while some worried about the deterioration of the physical condition of the mentors. In conclusion, findings provide insights into the importance of not overlooking the mental health implications of delaying the SMP in future outbreaks or crises.


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