The Geriatric Feelings of Burdensomeness Scale (GFBS)

Older Korean Americans’ Perceived Burdensomeness to Their Healthcare Partners: An Egocentric Network Assessment

“…Such characteristics may enable older immigrants to become self-sufficient in various dimensions of healthcare navigation such as communication, transportation, finance, information-seeking, and decision-making (Choi et al, 2018; Jang, Park et al, 2020; Tsoh et al, 2016). This finding is also in accordance with the literature demonstrating the inverse relationship of perceived burdensomeness with a sense of independence and autonomy (Cukrowicz et al, 2011; Filiberti et al, 2001; Lutz et al, 2020).…”

“…Those with greater health challenges and higher healthcare needs seemed to gain the most benefit from emotional support received from their healthcare partners, thus alleviating their sense of burdensomeness. Given the adverse health and well-being associated with perceived burdensomeness (Cukrowicz et al, 2011;Filiberti et al, 2001;Lutz et al, 2020;Wilson et al, 2005), our findings call attention to the importance of social exchanges of comfort, companionship, consolation, and affection, particularly for those with greater health challenges. This study's strengths include its use of an egocentric assessment and multilevel model and its focus on an understudied, underserved ethnic minority group.…”

“…Given this limitation, caution should be exercised in interpreting statistical significance reported in the present investigation. There has been an emerging effort to develop scales for the construct of perceived burdensomeness, such as the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (Van Orden et al, 2012) and the Geriatric Feelings of Burdensomeness Scale (Lutz et al, 2020). Future studies should use a more comprehensive measure with good psychometric properties and score variance, which will allow us to confirm the effects of ego- and alter-level of variables.…”

“…Perceived burdensomeness, the perception that one is a burden on others, is often reported by individuals in life situations that frequently require increased assistance from others, such as terminal illness or other critical medical problems (Filiberti et al, 2001; Wilson et al, 2005). Increased reliance on family and friends for personal care, for example, can promote a sense of burden, with feelings of guilt and shame, diminished self-esteem and self-worth, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and suicidal ideation and behavior (Cukrowicz et al, 2011; Lutz et al, 2020). Concern about burdening family members is one of the major reasons given by terminally ill patients for considering euthanasia under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (Oregon Health Authority, 2021).…”