Along with the aging of population, dementia became a social problem disturbing our life. Western researches focused on caregivers found that, the more severe the dementiais, the more burdens on caregivers. Furthermore, considening the different relationship to the patient, different culture background and different types of dementia, there are different problems in care. Based on comprehensive assessments on the demented and the caregiver, specific health education and other assistant services may improve both the mental and physical health of the caregivers, and reduce the disease burden due to dementia.
Caregivers ; psychology ; Dementia ; nursing ; Health Education ; Humans ; Stress, Psychological

Death and dying is an ultimate process that every human being must experience. However, in these days we do not like to think or discuss about death and dying. Actually, hatred and denial is the usual feeling when we encounter death and dying. Dying is more than a biological occurrence. It is a human, social, and spiritual event, but the spiritual dimension of patients is too often neglected. Whether death is viewed as a "wall" or as a "door" can have significantly important consequences for how we live our lives. Near death experience is one of the excellent evidences to prove that there should be spiritual component being separated from the human physical body when we experience death. People have called it soul, spirit, or nonlocal consciousness. Caregivers need to recognize and acknowledge the spiritual component of patient care. Learning about death and dying helps us encounter death in ways that are meaningful for our own lives. Among the several learning tools, utilizing cinema with its audio and visual components can be one of the most powerful learning tools in death education.
*Attitude to Death ; Caregivers/education/psychology ; Health Personnel/*education/psychology ; Humans ; Psychodrama

OBJECTIVEA qualitative research was conducted to investigate the problems on the family management of asthmatic children and the needs for family health services in order to provide basis for family-centered care.

METHODSFifteen caregivers of children with asthma were interviewed with open-ended questions. The collected data were studied using Colaizzi's seven-step method of phenomenological analysis.

RESULTSThe problems of family management and the needs for family health services were shown as follows: insufficient knowledge to prevention and treatment of asthma, poor compliance, ignoring psychological effects of asthma on children, a family's failure to cope with the distress and financial burden.

CONCLUSIONSIt is important to provide asthma education and prevention program for caregivers and encourage them to participate in the design of medical program for asthmatic children. Individual asthma education and guides are also necessary for caregivers.

Adult ; Asthma ; psychology ; therapy ; Caregivers ; education ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Needs Assessment ; Patient Education as Topic ; Qualitative Research

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between pre-morbid personality and depression scales in patients with stroke. METHOD: The subjects of this study included 45 patients with stroke and their caregivers. We conducted an interview of patients with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and also evaluated general characteristic (age, sex, location of lesion, cause of stroke, duration of illness, educational background, history of medication for depression) and functional level. Caregivers were evaluated with Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) for depressive mood, with NEO-PI (Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness Personality Inventory) for pre-morbid personality. The results of each questionnaire were analyzed in order to investigate their correlation. The results were statistically analyzed with independent t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation test. RESULTS: The HRSD score of the caregivers had a significant correlation with the BDI score (p=0.001) of the patients. The BDI score correlated with Neuroticism (p=0.021) and the HRSD score also correlated with Neuroticism (p=0.015). There were no statistical correlation of depression with sex, age, case of stroke, location of lesion, duration of illness and functional level. CONCLUSION: Among pre-morbid personalities, neuroticism of NEO-PI is the only factor which is significantly correlated with depression scales in stroke patients. Evaluating pre-morbid personality can be helpful in predicting the depressive mood in stroke patients, so we may have early intervention for it.
Anxiety Disorders ; Caregivers ; Depression ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Extraversion (Psychology) ; Humans ; Stroke ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: The importance of care workers in providing care to patients with dementia is increasing. The burden that care workers experience impacts the health of the patients as well as that of the workers themselves. This study examined the burden experienced by care workers looking after patients with dementia, with the aim of determining the factors associated with the severity of the caregiver burden. METHODS: Care workers providing care to patients with dementia were recruited from nine medical care centers in the metropolitan city of Daegu and Gyeongsanbuk-do province. Two hundred and twenty participants were included. During face-to-face interviews with a psychologist, they completed the Burden Interview, Life Satisfaction Index, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory, and their health status and the severity of dementia in their patients were evaluated. The burden experienced by care workers and the factors affecting it were assessed using statistical analyses. RESULTS: The care workers had a mean score in the Burden Interview of 28. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that scores for the Life Satisfaction Index and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, as well as the health status and education level of caregivers were associated with the severity of caregiver burden (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the burden of the included Korean care workers ranged from mild to moderate. In addition, their health status, education level, and scores for the Life Satisfaction Index and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were closely related to the burden they experienced in caring for patients with dementia.
Anxiety ; Caregivers ; Daegu ; Dementia* ; Depression ; Education ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Psychology

BACKGROUND: The importance of care workers in providing care to patients with dementia is increasing. The burden that care workers experience impacts the health of the patients as well as that of the workers themselves. This study examined the burden experienced by care workers looking after patients with dementia, with the aim of determining the factors associated with the severity of the caregiver burden. METHODS: Care workers providing care to patients with dementia were recruited from nine medical care centers in the metropolitan city of Daegu and Gyeongsanbuk-do province. Two hundred and twenty participants were included. During face-to-face interviews with a psychologist, they completed the Burden Interview, Life Satisfaction Index, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory, and their health status and the severity of dementia in their patients were evaluated. The burden experienced by care workers and the factors affecting it were assessed using statistical analyses. RESULTS: The care workers had a mean score in the Burden Interview of 28. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that scores for the Life Satisfaction Index and the Beck Anxiety Inventory, as well as the health status and education level of caregivers were associated with the severity of caregiver burden (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the burden of the included Korean care workers ranged from mild to moderate. In addition, their health status, education level, and scores for the Life Satisfaction Index and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were closely related to the burden they experienced in caring for patients with dementia.
Anxiety ; Caregivers ; Daegu ; Dementia* ; Depression ; Education ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Psychology

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the factors affecting on the level of the quality of life of stroke patients and their family caregivers. METHOD: Among the stroke patients receiving rehabilitation treatment at forty three out patient clinic in university hospitals, 289 stroke patients who scored over 24 out of 30 points in MMSE-K and their family caregivers were interviewed using questionnaires. RESULTS: The main contributory variable on the quality of life (QOL) of caregivers was the socio-demographic factor and QOL of caregivers was improved with decreasing age, the higher level of education, the less burden of care and the better condition of patient. High correlation coefficients were showed between QOL of stroke patients and ADL, QOL of caregivers and burden of care, and the burden of care and the neurological impairment. The main contributory variable on the QOL of stroke patients was clinical characteristics factor and QOL of stroke patients was improved with increasing the levels of cognitive function and ADL performance, decreasing the level of neurological impairment, the more social support from friends and the less burden of caregivers. CONCLUSION: In order to improve the QOL of stroke patients, not only patients' physical factors, but psychological factors, socio-demographic factors and QOL of caregivers should also be considered.
Activities of Daily Living ; Caregivers* ; Education ; Friends ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Psychology ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation* ; Stroke*

PURPOSE: The study was conducted to explore caregivers' experiences and perceptions of barriers to their children receiving appropriate healthcare and support at schools in Thailand. METHOD: A qualitative narrative study was conducted to achieve the aim stated above. Twenty caregivers of children living with HIV/AIDS attending schools in Bangkok were interviewed in depth. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analyzed using narrative analysis. RESULTS: The analysis indicated that caregivers fear discrimination, suffer from stigma and most do not reveal their child's HIV status to schools. Obstacles to children living with HIV/AIDS getting appropriate care and support in schools are persistent. Caregivers need to collaborate with the public health sector to provide HIV education and support for themselves and for teachers; community nurses would be well placed to provide this. CONCLUSION: Our findings can inform the design of systems for educational and social support alongside adequate healthcare for children living with HIV/AIDS attending school. The Thai government needs to establish collaboration between the educational and health sectors to reduce the stigma of HIV, promote acceptance and provide support.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Caregivers* ; Child* ; Cooperative Behavior ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Education ; HIV* ; Humans ; Public Health ; Thailand

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to develop an educational program to reduce the use of physical restraints for caregivers in geriatric hospitals and to evaluate the effects of the program on cargivers' knowledge, attitude and nursing practice related to the use of physical restraints. METHODS: A quasi experimental study with a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Participants were recruited from two geriatric hospitals. Eighteen caregivers were assigned to the experimental group and 20 to the control group. The data were collected prior to the intervention and at 6 weeks after the intervention through the use of self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Fisher's exact probability test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: After the intervention, knowledge about physical restraints increased significantly in experimental group compared to the control group. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups for attitude and nursing practice involving physical restraints. CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that it is necessary to apply knowledge acquired through educational programs to nursing practice to reduce the use of physical restraints. User friendly guidelines for physical restraints, administrative support of institutions, and multidisciplinary approaches are required to achieve this goal.
Adult ; Caregivers/*education/psychology ; Female ; Geriatrics ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Male ; Program Evaluation ; Questionnaires ; Restraint, Physical/*utilization

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the effects of a support group intervention on the burden of primary family caregivers of stroke patients. METHOD: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The subjects were 36 primary family caregivers of stroke patients [experimental(N=18) and control(N=18) groups] in a neurosurgery ward of a university hospital. The experimental group members participated in six sessions of a support group intervention for two weeks and the degree of their caregiving burden was evaluated. Data was analyzed by Chi-square tests, t-tests, and paired t-tests using SPSS 10.0. RESULT: The experimental group had a significantly lower total burden score (t=2.061, p= .047)and sub-scales of emotional(t=-3.319, p= .002), time-dependent(t=-2.045, p= .049) and developmental(t=-2.656, p= .012) burden scores than the control group, while no significant differences were found in physical, social or financial burden scores between the two groups. Within the experimental group, there was a significant decrease in physical(t=2.507, p= .023), emotional(t=4.754, p= .000), social(t=2.932, p= .009), time- dependent(t=5.015, p= .000) and developmental(t=7.541, p= .000) burden scores but not the financial burden score. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that a support group intervention can be utilized as an effective nursing program to reduce the burden of primary family caregivers of stroke patients.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Attitude to Health ; Caregivers/education/*psychology ; Family/*psychology ; Family Relations ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Nursing ; *Self-Help Groups ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Stroke/*nursing