Evaluation of the difficulties and care burdens of caregivers of children with complex health care needs at home

The research was conducted to evaluate the difficulties and care burdens of caregivers of children with complex health care needs at home. The primary caregivers of 55 children who were registered to the Home Health Services Unit of Trabzon Provincial Health Directorate between February and June 2021 and who met the inclusion criteria for the study were included in the study. In the study, data were collected by face-to-face interview method by making home visits using Introductory Information Form and Caregiver Burden Scale. The data obtained from the research were analyzed using the SPSS 24.0 package program. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation tests were used to evaluate the data. The mean age of the children in the study was 11.2±5.99 years, and the mean time of diagnosis for these children was 9.4±6.23 years. It was determined that all of the primary caregivers had difficulties in caring for the child, in positioning (50.9%), doing personal cleaning (45.5%), and feeding (38.2%), respectively. It was determined that caregivers who stated that their psychological health and social relations were affected had a higher caregiving burden and there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). As a result, it was determined that the primary caregivers of the child with complex health care needs had difficulties in care and the total mean score of caregiving burden was high.