Caregiver burden of informal primary care providers of home health care patients and evaluation of methods of coping with stress

Objective: This study was planned as a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical, questionnaire and scale-based questioning the caregiver burden of home care providers and their methods of coping with stress and reveal their strengths and weaknesses. Method: In this study, informal primary caregivers of 550 patients registered in Izmir Tire State Hospital home health services were reached, and 321 caregivers calculated using the sampling formula (n= Nt2pq / d2 (N-1) + t2pq). A sociodemographic form, Zarit caregiver burden scale and methods of coping with stress scale were applied to the participants. The findings obtained in the study were evaluated using the SPSS 20.0 program for statistical analysis. Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis H test and Spearman correlation analysis were used in the statistical evaluation of the data, and p< 0.05 was accepted as significant. Results: Of the 321 patients who participated in the study, 218 (67.9%) were fully bedridden. 294 (91.6%) of 321 caregivers are literate. It was found that the monthly average income of 116 (36.1%) caregivers was less than 2500 TL. It was determined that 249 (77.6%) of the caregivers were not working. The mean ZBI score of 321 caregivers was 50.86 ± 16.29. 17 (5.3%) of 321 caregivers had no or very light burden, 63 (19.6%) caregiver had mild-moderate burden, 141 (43.9%) caregiver had moderate-severe burden, 100 (31%) caregiver had a heavy burden was found. The burden of caregivers whose patients were fully bedridden was found to be higher than those of caregivers whose patients were semi-bedridden and independent (p<0.001). Caregiver burden; It was found to be higher in caregivers with neurological disease, Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension-Diabetes Mellitus multimorbidity in patients compared with to those without (p<0.05). After starting to care; Caregivers diagnosed with hypertension, psychiatric disease, Diabetes Mellitus, hypertension-Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension-psychiatric disease multimorbidity had a higher burden compared to caregivers without the same diagnosis (p<0.001). A positive and significant correlation was observed between the subscales of the coping ways of stress scale; seeking environment support and professional support and ZBI score (p<0.001). Conclusion: In our study, it was determined that caregivers who were desperate to take on the caregiver burden tried to seek outside support, but this was not enough to reduce the caregiver burden, on the contrary, this behavior made them feel more helpless. With the inclusion of caregivers in our society within the scope of home health services, a system can be developed that supports them in understanding their psychological burdens on caregivers. With the participation of social workers and home health service personnel working under the social services unit, more frequent and systematic training meetings can be organized to address the problems of caregivers, and working principles can be developed in coordination. Keywords: caregiver, burden, stress, coping