• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.367-377
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of life (QoL) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their and caregivers and its influencing factors. Methods: A descriptive research design was used. 211 pairs of AD patients and their caregivers were recruited from a neurology outpatient clinic of S medical center in Seoul, Korea. Caregivers completed several structured questionnaires regarding AD patients' QoL as well as their QoL, patients' behavioral and psychological symptoms, patients' activities of daily living (ADL), social support, and quality of relationship between AD patients and caregivers. Cognitive status of AD patients was assessed by the researchers using Korean Mini-Mental State Examination. Results: The scores of QoL were 26.91 for AD patients and 85.62 for their caregivers. In the multiple regression, factors associated with AD patients' QoL were the quality of relationship (${\beta}$=.44), ADL (${\beta}$=-.33), patient's age (${\beta}$=.20), caregivers' QoL (${\beta}$=.20), and patient's gender (${\beta}$=.11). Factors associated with caregivers' QoL were the quality of relationship (${\beta}$=.34), relationship (${\beta}$=.32), patient's QoL (${\beta}$=.26), caregivers' gender (${\beta}$=.18), social support (${\beta}$=.12), and the level of caregivers' education (${\beta}$=.12). Conclusion: To improve the QoL in AD patients and their caregivers, strategies to promote their quality of relationship are needed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.585-595
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• 1999

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of burnout among informal caregivers of older adults. One hundred thirty seven caregivers who had provided care to older adults over 60 years of age for more than one month were included in the study. Most of the caregivers were white (91%) and female (78%). Mean ages of the caregivers were 64 years and 78% of them were married. Seventy percent of the older adults suffered from Alzheimer and related disease. In this study, caregivers reported that they experienced burnout once a month. The scores of emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment of the caregivers were in the moderate burnout range. To examine the predictors of burnout, discriminant analysis was used. Caregivers were divided by two groups based on the sum of scores (cutpoint＝6) on three dimensions of burnout after each dimension was categorized into high(3), moderate(2), and low(1). Nine predictors were included in the analysis : Caregiver's age, employment status, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) of the older adult, presence of dementia of the older adult, caregiver's empathy toward the older adult (emotional and cognitive), and 3 coping strategies (negative, problem-focused, cognitive reconstructioning). Caregivers who reported high burnout showed higher cognitive empathy toward the older adults than those who showed low burnout. Caregivers who experienced high burnout used negative coping more often, and cognitive reconstructioning coping and problem focused coping less often than their counterparts. Wilks' Lambda was .78 indicating that differences between the two groups were significant. Cognitive empathy and cognitive reconstructioning coping showed high standardized canonical discriminat function coefficients over .40. Discriminant function with 9 predictors correctly classified 71% of the sample. In conclusion, informal caregivers also experienced certain level of burnout. Cognitive empathy and coping strategies predicted burnout experience of the caregivers. Based on this study, nursing intervention to the informal caregivers to improve their cognitive empathy toward the older adults and to modify their coping strategies in a way to reduce burnout experience can be applied. Further research to develop effective nursing interventions for the purpose of reducing burnout experience by modifying predictors was suggested.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.914-923
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• 2007

Purpose: This qualitative study aimed to identify the common, lived experiences of grandmothers who cared for their grandchildren as the primary caregivers. Methods: This study was based on the phenomenological method described by Colaizzi (1978). Results: Seven theme clusters emerged from the data as follows: "grandmother caregivers accept the parenting role of the incessant responsibilities and the distrust of non-kin caregivers.", "grandmother caregivers have a double maternal roles; an instrument-oriented maternal role to their own child and relationship-oriented maternal role to their grandchild.", "grandmother caregivers are partially authorized to make decisions in the matters of their grandchild.", "grandmother caregivers suffer a deterioration in their health by an acceleration of the aging process.", "caregiving causes grandmother caregivers to feel a sense of social isolation, and persue various coping strategies to control this feeling.", "grandmother caregivers have a greater feeling of self-esteem, but they often conflict with their adult children if they don't feel appreciated by them.", "grandmother caregivers have limited social support and their health issues are often overlooked in the family context.' Conclusion: The results of this study can guide nurses and health care workers to understand the experiences of grandmother caregivers and to implement individualized nursing interventions suited for them.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.159-167
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• 2016

Purpose: This article provides an overview of current knowledge on the impact of caregiving on the psychological and physical health of family caregivers of intensive care unit (ICU) survivors and suggestions for future research. Methods: Review of selected papers published in English between January 2000 and October 2015 reporting psychological and physical health outcomes in family caregivers of ICU survivors. Results: In family caregivers of ICU survivors followed up to five years after patients' discharge from an ICU, psychological symptoms, manifested as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, were highly prevalent. Poor self-care, sleep disturbances and fatigue were identified as common physical health problems in family caregivers. Studies to date are mainly descriptive; few interventions have targeted family caregivers. Further, studies that elicit unique needs of families from diverse cultures are lacking. Conclusion: Studies to date have described the impact of caregiving on the psychological and physical health in family caregivers of ICU survivors. Few studies have tested interventions to support unique needs in this population. Therefore, evidence for best strategies is lacking. Future research is needed to identify ICU caregivers at greatest risk for distress, time points to target interventions with maximal efficacy, needs of those from diverse cultures and test interventions to mitigate family caregivers' burden.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.25-32
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide the basic data to decrease the stress of the family caregivers. Methods: The questionnaire was administrated to the family caregivers of 156 patients with stroke who consented to be interviewed. Among 156 caregivers, we analyzed 120 caregivers. We evaluated on the stress of the family caregivers. Results: First, the general characteristics of patient with CVA were high at 82.55% in male, 55.83% in infarction, 53.33% in the left hemiplegia, 47.50% in sixties, 80.83% in 1 recurrence rate, 27.50% in 1-2 years of disease period. Second, the general characteristics of family caregivers were high in above sixties, female in gender, existence in religion, married in marital status, high school in educational level, below 1 million-won in monthly income, spouse in relationship with patient, below 1 years in total caring period. Third, it showed that stress of family caregivers above 3.0 score has 8 items. Forth, the patient's characteristic that have the influence on the stress was significant in the period of disease(p<0.05). Finally, the characteristics of family caregivers that have the influence on the stress were the monthly income, caring period(p<0.05). Conclusion: These findings indicated that the stress of the family caregivers was correlated with the time in hospital, the income and nursing period.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.364-375
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate burden and the qualify of life in caregivers who are taking care of home-based rare and incurable disease patients. Methods: The subjects of this study were 300 caregivers of rare and incurable disease patients registered at five health centers in Seoul. A survey was conducted by mail and visit in person during the period from the 25th of March to the 12th of May 2005. Collected data were analyzed through t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient. Result: The mean burden of caregivers was 3.42, and the mean qualify of life of caregivers was 2.71. Burden and QoL showed significant differences according to caregivers' characteristics such as sender, age, relation to the patient, academic qualification, religion, occupation, monthly household income and perceived health condition. Caregivers' burden was in an inverse correlation with their quality of life. Conclusions: According to the results of this study, rare and incurable disease caregivers' burden and their quality of life were in a significant correlation with each other. In order to improve caregivers' quality of life by reducing their burden, we need to reestablish comprehensive policies for rare and incurable disease management including nursing intervention strategies for caregivers.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.337-347
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• 2011

Purpose: Purposes of this study were to develop a community-based respite program for family caregivers and to test the effects of the program. Methods: Focus group interviews were performed to extract meaning of respite care for family caregivers (13 participants) and a survey was done to identify respite needs of family caregivers (157 participants). The community-based respite program for family caregivers was developed based on results of the focus group interview and survey. The program was used with 41 participants (19 experimental and 22 control). Independent t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to test differences between control and experimental groups for respite needs, burden of caregivers, subjective wellbeing, social support, fatigue and functional status of elders with dementia. Results: There were statistical differences in caregiver burden, subjective wellbeing, and social support after the program, but, none for respite needs, fatigue and functional status of elders with dementia. Conclusion: The results indicate that a respite program can be useful to decrease burden of caregivers and increase subjective wellbeing and perceived social support of family caregivers in community settings. Further intervention research is needed to increase the functional status of elders with dementia and decrease fatigue in caregivers.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.136-147
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to explore influencing factors on care burden among family caregivers for elders with dementia living at home. Methods: Participants in this study were 211 family caregivers who were taking care of elders registered at a support center for dementia located in S-gu, Seoul. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression in SPSS WIN 23.0. Results: The care burden of family caregivers was mild to moderate ($40.31{\pm}21.50$) in this study. The factors influencing care burden among family caregivers for elders with dementia were the age, behavioral problems, and dependency in instrumental activities of daily living of demented elderly, in addition to the perceived health status and resting hours of family caregivers. Overall, these factors explained 46.5% of the total variability in care burden in this sample (F=13.01, p<.001). Conclusion: Findings from this study suggest that the characteristics of demented elderly and family caregivers can influence care burden differently. Individually tailored strategies based on the various caregiving contexts need to be developed to reduce the level of care burden among family caregivers for elders with dementia.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.143-151
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• 2019

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the causal relationships between social support, spiritual well-being, and depression among family caregivers caring for the elderly in need of long-term care. Based on previous studies and theoretical backgrounds, a mediation research model including the aforementioned variables was proposed. A total of 383 family caregivers from 25 long-term care facilities in G Metropolitan City were included in the present study and hierarchical regression was used. The primary results were as follows. First, family caregivers' social support was negatively associated with depression. Second, family caregivers' social support was positively associated with spiritual well-being. Third, family caregivers' spiritual well-being was negatively associated with depression. Fourth, social support was positively associated with spiritual well-being, which was related to weaker depression among family caregivers. Finally, theoretical implications of these findings and recommendations for policy and practice were also discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2002

During acute stages of hospitalized stroke patients, family caregivers face many challenges. They often experience emotional distress, social isolation, and financial constraints. However, the burden of caregiving of stroke patients in acute stages has never been studied properly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors related to the caregivers' burden with acute stroke. The subjects were 123 acute stroke patients and their caregivers who were admitted to neurology and neurosurgery units at Dan Kook University Hospital in Chung-Nam area. An interview was performed with the use of standardized questionnaire which included data pertaining to the patients/caregivers characteristics, caregiver burden (Modified Zarit's Burden Scale), and social support (Personal Resource Questionnaire). Our results showed that the mean burden score was 3.11, indicating high level of burden. Among the sub-domain scores, financial burden was the highest. In univariate analysis, the factors related to caregiver burdens were: inability to communicate between patients and caregiver(p<.001); low cognitive function of the patients(p<.001); low level of ADL(p<.001); the gender of caregiver(p<.001); the current employment status of caregivers(p<.01); the presence of social support for caregiver(p<.001); and the availability of alternative caregivers(p<.001). In multiple regression analysis, social support for family caregivers (87%), low level of patient's cognition (2%), availability of 2nd caregiver (1%), and gender of caregiver (female, 0.4%) were significant explanatory factors of overall burden. The caregivers' burden in acute stages during hospitalization following stroke was high. Recognition of high levels of caregivers' burden and those relating factors affecting caregiver burden may allow us to develop different nursing strategies to unload the level of burden for caregivers in acute stages of stroke.