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

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: Common conditions, such as dehydration or respiratory infection can aggravate hypoxia and are associated with interstage mortality in infants who have undergone palliative surgery for congenital heart diseases. This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of a home monitoring program (HMP) in decreasing infant mortality. METHODS: Since its inception in May 2010, all infants who have undergone palliative surgery have been enrolled in HMP. This study was a prospective observational study and infant outcomes during HMP were compared with those of previous comparison groups. Parents were trained to measure oxygen saturation, body weight and feeding volume and to contact the hospital through the hotline for emergency situations. Telephone counseling was conducted by clinical nurse specialists every week post discharge. RESULTS: Forty-one infants were enrolled in HMP. Nine hundred telephone counseling sessions were conducted. Seventy-three infants required telephone triage with the most common conditions being gastrointestinal (50.7%) and respiratory symptoms (32.9%). With HMP intervention, interstage mortality decreased from 18.6% (8/43) to 9.8% (4/41) (chi2=1.15, p=.283). CONCLUSION: Results indicate that active measures and treatments using the HMP decrease mortality rates, however further investigation is required to identify various factors that contribute to hemodynamic complications during the interstage period.
Body Temperature ; Body Weight ; Caregivers/education/psychology ; Counseling ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital/mortality/prevention & control/*surgery ; Heart Rate ; Hospitalization ; Hotlines ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Monitoring, Physiologic/*methods ; Oxygen Consumption ; Palliative Care ; *Program Evaluation ; Prospective Studies ; Time Factors

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

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between caregivers' nutritional knowledge and children's dietary behavior in rural areas of China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. 3361 rural caregivers and their children, aged 2 to 7 years old, were selected randomly and surveyed by questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to identify the relationship between caregivers' nutritional knowledge and the children's dietary behaviors. RESULTS: The awareness level of nutritional knowledge among rural caregivers was 57.9%; among the children surveyed, 79.6% did not like to drink milk, 66.0% were considered choosy of food, 84.1% regularly snacked, 24.4% frequently skipped breakfast, and 13.7% did not come to meals on time. Logistic regression models indicated that a caregiver with a low level of nutritional knowledge is a risk factor for a child's unhealth dietary behaviors (snacking excepted): the odds ratios (OR) of not liking to drink milk, being choosy about food, skipping breakfast or not having meals on time are 1.665, 1.338, 1.330 and 1.582, respectively. CONCLUSION Caregivers' nutritional knowledge is strongly associated with children's dietary behavior. Nutrition education programs are urgently wanted to improve caregiver's knowledge and thus to improve children's dietary behavior in rural areas of China.
Caregivers ; education ; Child ; Child Behavior ; psychology ; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Feeding Behavior ; psychology ; Female ; Food Preferences ; psychology ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Rural Population ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to develop and evaluate a web-based education program for secondary stroke prevention. METHODS: A web-based secondary stroke prevention education program was developed using the system's life cycle methods and evaluated by comparing the effects of education among three groups, a web group, a booklet group and a control group. RESULTS: Knowledge level of both patients and family, as well as some health behavior compliance in the web-based and booklet education groups were significantly higher than those of the control group. Family support in the web-based and booklet education groups was significantly higher than that of the control group after 12 weeks. The urine cotinine level in the web-based education group was significantly lower than that of the control group after 12 weeks. Medication adherence, blood pressure and perceived health status were not statistically different among the three groups at any time. CONCLUSION: Web-based and booklet education programs were equally effective regarding the level of knowledge of patients and their families, family support, health behavior compliance, and urine cotinine level. These results demonstrate the potential use of a web-based education program for secondary stroke prevention.
Aged ; Blood Pressure ; Caregivers/psychology ; Cotinine/urine ; Demography ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; *Internet ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Patient Education as Topic/*methods ; Program Evaluation ; Stroke/*prevention & control/psychology

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

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluate the formal education program provided by the Korean government for care workers for frail elderly people. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey in which 438 certified care workers who had completed the education program participated. Data were collected from June to October 2009, using a self-report questionnaire consisting of satisfaction with, and understanding of the education program. RESULTS: The participants had a mean age of 46.7 yr, 87.9% were female and 58.2% were high school graduates. For the theory part of the education, the highest score for understanding was for 'supporting household & activities of daily living' while the lowest score for understanding was for 'care for death and dying'. For the practical education, the highest score for understanding was for 'talking with the client' and the lowest score was for 'first aid & basic life support'. There was a significant difference in satisfaction and understanding of the theoretical and practical parts according to educational level. CONCLUSION: Continuing education programs are needed for care workers for elders, both in the theoretical and practical areas. Also the content of programs should address the weak points of this formal education program.
Adult ; Aged ; Caregivers/*education/psychology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education, Nursing, Continuing ; Female ; Frail Elderly ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Program Evaluation ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea

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