Evaluation of the quality of life of care givers of the patients who are serving from the home health unit at Ankara Atatürk Education and Research Hospital

OBJECTIVE: Today, due to the progress of medicine, the life expectancy is increasing and the population in need of care is increasing gradually. Home Health Care Services; provides social and psychological counseling in the home and in the acute and chronic stages of the individual's disease, which is in needs of care. In this study, it was aimed to determine the factors and the way in which the quality of life of the caregivers of the patients receiving Home Health Care services were affected. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The descriptive study included patient caregivers who received services from the Ankara Atatürk Education Research Hospital Home Health Unit between October 25, 2017 and February 28, 2018 and agreed to participate in the study. Participation introductory information form, World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Short Form and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale applied. For the analysis of the data, SPSS 23.0 package program was used. RESULTS: The study included 141 caregivers. 75.9% of the participants were female and the mean age was 57.3 ± 10.9 years. 73.8% of the caregivers were not working. 42.5% of the patients given care were bed dependent and the mean age was 73.3 ± 20.1 years. 42.6% of the patients had dementia diagnosis. It was determined that 35.5% of the caregivers in the study were the only ones who took care of the patient. It was determined that 56.7% of the health status changed in the worst depending on the care given by the caregivers. The average score of WHO quality of life scales for caregivers; 45.2 in the general area, 50.4 in the physical area, 51.3 in the psychological area, 51.8 in the health area and 51.1 in the surrounding area. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale average score was also found to be 7.89. Quality of life and sleep quality; the caregiver was found to be associated with chronic illness status, income status, working status and being the only person undertaking care work (p<0.05). However, it was determined that the patient had no relation to bed dependency and dementia level. The quality of life and sleep quality of care in patients with chronic disease, low income level, who do not work in a job and take care of one person was found to be worse (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: As a result of this study, it was found that patient caregivers who need care at home are adversely affected by the care given by their life and sleep qualities. Caregivers who have a chronic illness, a low income level, do not work at all, and who take on care responsibility as the sole person are found to have lower life and sleep qualities. In the light of these determinations, it is thought that the regulation of Home Health Care services in order to take care of some needs of caregivers and in particular the support of caregivers on the psycho-social area may be beneficial for raising the quality of life and sleep. KEY WORDS: Home Care Service, Quality of Life, Quality of Sleep, Caregiver