Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study
Abstract Background The world is facing many socio-demographic changes, such as an increased average life expectancy and the presence of chronic and non-communicable diseases, which in turn, leads to an enhanced dependency on others. Consequently, the demand for informal caregivers has significantly...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2019-09-01
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| Series: | BMC Geriatrics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12877-019-1274-0 |
| _version_ | 1819173819396390912 |
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| author | Maria dos Anjos Coelho Rodrigues Dixe Liliana Fernanda da Conceição Teixeira Timóteo João Teixeira Camacho Coelho Areosa Roberta Caçador Frontini Teresa de Jesus Almeida Peralta Ana Isabel Fernandes Querido |
| author_facet | Maria dos Anjos Coelho Rodrigues Dixe Liliana Fernanda da Conceição Teixeira Timóteo João Teixeira Camacho Coelho Areosa Roberta Caçador Frontini Teresa de Jesus Almeida Peralta Ana Isabel Fernandes Querido |
| author_sort | Maria dos Anjos Coelho Rodrigues Dixe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The world is facing many socio-demographic changes, such as an increased average life expectancy and the presence of chronic and non-communicable diseases, which in turn, leads to an enhanced dependency on others. Consequently, the demand for informal caregivers has significantly increased during the past few years. Caring for a dependent person is linked to a series of burdens that often leads to physical, psychological and emotional difficulties. Taking into consideration the difficulties faced by informal caregivers, knowing in which areas of functioning they need more guidance may help to relieve their burden. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to better understand the needs and competencies of the informal caregiver when caring for a dependent person in the different self-care domains. Methods This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire administered on a single occasion by face-to-face interview. Descriptive and inferential statistics alongside non-parametric statistical techniques such as the Mann-Whitney test and Spearman’s correlation were used. Results The average age of the 143 informal caregivers is 58 years old, with the youngest in our sample being 21 years of age. Most of them are female, and 50% of them are children taking care of one of their parents. Most of the dependent people are completely dependent in the areas of comfort and hygiene (53.8%) and medication management (55.9%). The female informal caregivers see themselves as having more competencies in sanitary hygiene than the male ones, with no significant differences in their competencies’ perception in the other areas of self-care. Older caregivers see themselves as less competent in certain areas of self-care such as feeding, mobility, transfers, medication and symptoms management and communication. Most of the information given to the informal caregiver is about the disease (82.3%) and the medication management (80.4%). There are still a lot of areas of self-care, where no information, or almost none, is given to the informal caregivers. Conclusions Before home discharge of a dependent person, it is important to acknowledge the needs and competencies of the informal caregiver, to capacitate them in looking after their relatives, to help decrease their burden and consequently, decrease the number of hospital readmissions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T20:29:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a75025e5d5bc4528aacf035b98523ca6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2318 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T20:29:08Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Geriatrics |
| spelling | doaj.art-a75025e5d5bc4528aacf035b98523ca62022-12-21T18:13:39ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182019-09-011911910.1186/s12877-019-1274-0Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional studyMaria dos Anjos Coelho Rodrigues Dixe0Liliana Fernanda da Conceição Teixeira1Timóteo João Teixeira Camacho Coelho Areosa2Roberta Caçador Frontini3Teresa de Jesus Almeida Peralta4Ana Isabel Fernandes Querido5Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Escola Superior de Saúde do instituto Politécnico de LeiriaCenter for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Escola Superior de Saúde do instituto Politécnico de LeiriaCenter for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Escola Superior de Saúde do instituto Politécnico de LeiriaCenter for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Escola Superior de Saúde do instituto Politécnico de LeiriaCenter for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Escola Superior de Saúde do instituto Politécnico de LeiriaCenter for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Escola Superior de Saúde do instituto Politécnico de LeiriaAbstract Background The world is facing many socio-demographic changes, such as an increased average life expectancy and the presence of chronic and non-communicable diseases, which in turn, leads to an enhanced dependency on others. Consequently, the demand for informal caregivers has significantly increased during the past few years. Caring for a dependent person is linked to a series of burdens that often leads to physical, psychological and emotional difficulties. Taking into consideration the difficulties faced by informal caregivers, knowing in which areas of functioning they need more guidance may help to relieve their burden. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to better understand the needs and competencies of the informal caregiver when caring for a dependent person in the different self-care domains. Methods This cross-sectional study used a questionnaire administered on a single occasion by face-to-face interview. Descriptive and inferential statistics alongside non-parametric statistical techniques such as the Mann-Whitney test and Spearman’s correlation were used. Results The average age of the 143 informal caregivers is 58 years old, with the youngest in our sample being 21 years of age. Most of them are female, and 50% of them are children taking care of one of their parents. Most of the dependent people are completely dependent in the areas of comfort and hygiene (53.8%) and medication management (55.9%). The female informal caregivers see themselves as having more competencies in sanitary hygiene than the male ones, with no significant differences in their competencies’ perception in the other areas of self-care. Older caregivers see themselves as less competent in certain areas of self-care such as feeding, mobility, transfers, medication and symptoms management and communication. Most of the information given to the informal caregiver is about the disease (82.3%) and the medication management (80.4%). There are still a lot of areas of self-care, where no information, or almost none, is given to the informal caregivers. Conclusions Before home discharge of a dependent person, it is important to acknowledge the needs and competencies of the informal caregiver, to capacitate them in looking after their relatives, to help decrease their burden and consequently, decrease the number of hospital readmissions.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12877-019-1274-0Dependent personInformal caregiverCaregiver needsCaregiver competencies |
| spellingShingle | Maria dos Anjos Coelho Rodrigues Dixe Liliana Fernanda da Conceição Teixeira Timóteo João Teixeira Camacho Coelho Areosa Roberta Caçador Frontini Teresa de Jesus Almeida Peralta Ana Isabel Fernandes Querido Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study BMC Geriatrics Dependent person Informal caregiver Caregiver needs Caregiver competencies |
| title | Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | needs and skills of informal caregivers to care for a dependent person a cross sectional study |
| topic | Dependent person Informal caregiver Caregiver needs Caregiver competencies |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12877-019-1274-0 |
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