Subjective Well-being and Burnout among Care Givers for Dementia Patients in Japan

Abstract

In the "Group homes", one care giver is assigned to three patients placed therein, there are concerns about physical and mental health, such as stress or burnout of care givers due to overwork. This study is intended to elucidate actual conditions of mental health and burnout among care givers of dementia patients. Subjects were 107 care givers working in 12 group homes in the northern Kyushu. Additionally, WHO Subjective Well-Being Inventory (SUBI) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were also included in the questionnaires. In the survey by SUBI, for "SUBI: Mental health degree (MHD)", 15.9% of the subjects were in the high score group, 64.5% were in the middle score group, and 19.6% were in the low score group. For SUBI: "Mental fatigue degree (MFD)", 49.5% of the subjects were in the high score group, 33.6% were in the middle score group and 16.8% were in the low score group. MBI three subscale scores were significantly correlated with MHD, "expectation-achievement congruence", "family group support", "social support", and "general well-being and negative affect". It is important to receive support from family members and society to maintain emotional health and prevent burnout among care givers of dementia patients. Moreover, improvement of working conditions among care givers should be considered.