Is caring burdensome? Predictors and health outcomes of burden of care among family caregivers of psychiatric patients

• Main Author: Ibale, Melanie Eden Grace Gauran
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2024
• Subjects: Caregivers; Psychotherapy patients; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_behsc/14; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdm_behsc/article/1019/viewcontent/2024_Ibale_IS_CARING_BURDENSOME__PREDICTORS_AND_HEALTH_OUTCOMES_OF_BURDEN_OF.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Caregiving burden among the family caregivers of psychiatric patients was worsened by COVID-19 pandemic. Higher burden increases the morbidity and mortality among family caregivers. This study examined the factors that influence the level of burden of care among the family caregivers of psychiatric patients, such as personal characteristics and family resilience. It also examined the relationship between the level of burden of care and the self-assessed health status among the family caregivers. A hospital-based descriptive correlational study was conducted from August to October 2022 in Mariveles Mental Wellness and General Hospital (MMWGH). Two hundred four accompanying relatives of psychiatric patients seeking consultation in the outpatient unit who satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included using a systematic random sampling. Participants answered the self-administered survey form using an online questionnaire in google form. Microsoft Excel was used to input the data, and Jamovi was used to analyze it. Personal characteristics include age, gender, relationship to the patient, and length of being a caregiver. Family resilience was assessed by adopting some domains of the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire (WFRQ). Burden of care experiences of the family caregivers was assessed using Family Burden Interview Schedule (FBIS). Self-assessed health status was assessed by adapting the physical and mental domains of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Data were analyzed using combined descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that the respondents have a moderate level of family resilience (M=3.44, SD=0.504), low level of burden of care (M=2.32, SD=0.489), and high level of self-assessed health status (M=3.68, SD=0.405). Family resilience significantly lowers the burden of care (r= -0.297, p=0.001), and burden of care significantly lowers the self-assessed health status of the respondents (r= -0.459, p=0.001). There is a need to strengthen the family resilience of the caregivers of psychiatric patients to lower the burden of care they experience. Lowering the caregiving burden results in higher self-assessed health status in family caregivers. In turn, they can provide a better quality of care to their family members with psychiatric conditions. Keywords: burden of care, family resilience, self-assessed health status, family caregiver, psychiatric patients