Home care practices of cancer patients care and the effect of perceived social support on the care load

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of care on home care and perceived social support on cancer burden. Method: The study included 222 caregivers of 222 cancer patients treated at the Chemotherapy Day Treatment Unit of Dokuz Eylül University Research and Application Hospital. The data collection form of the study, Caregiver and Patient Presentation Form, Caregiver Home Care Practices Questionnaire, Zarit Care Giving Burden Scale, Perceived Multidimensional Social Support Scale, Karnofsky Performance Scale to be five forms were used Findings: In our research, the social support level was found to be moderately adequate and had a mild maintenance burden. In addition, care givers found that 23% of the performance status of care givers had an 80% performance score. In our study, when the relationship between the multidimensional perceived social support scale scores and the Zarit care load scale scores is examined it was found that there was a significant relation between the perceived social support total scores of caregivers and the care burden scores in a weak and negative way (p<.01). When the relationship between Karnofsky performance scale scores and Zarit care load scale scores is analyzed the study found a relationship which is a weak level and in a positive way (p<.01). Besides, in our study, it was found that there was a significant correlation between the total daily care activities of the caregivers and the care load scores of the caregivers in a very high level and positive direction (p<.001). Results: It has been determined that the caregivers of cancer patients have taken care of their home care practices and the perceived lack of social support.