The perceived burden of care among caregivers of survivors of cerebrovascular accident following discharge from a private rehabilitation unit

Abstract

Introduction: The transition between inpatient rehabilitation and discharge of survivors of stroke from private rehabilitation services in South Africa is often challenging. After the stroke survivor is discharged, caregivers have an important role as an extension of rehabilitation, although the occupation of caregiving is often unplanned. This study investigated the factors associated with the burden of care experienced by patients' caregivers. Methods: A quantitative descriptive study was conducted with 63 patients and 63 caregivers, using a consecutive, non-randomised sampling method. Patients' Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores upon discharge were obtained. Telephonic interviews were conducted with the caregivers two months after the patients' discharge, using the Modified Caregiver Strain Index (MCSI) and a demographic data questionnaire to obtain their perceived burden of care. Results: Patients' median FIM score at discharge was 86, indicating that they needed minimal assistance. After discharge, caregivers experienced minimal to moderate strain (burden of care) according to the MCSI score. The associated factors that were identified included financial, physical, psychological and social aspects, of which financial strain was encountered most regularly. Caregivers also seemed to have unbalanced occupational profiles. Conclusions: Better caregiver training and support should be provided by private rehabilitation services for better integration of stroke survivors into the community.

Working-Age Caregivers of Stroke Survivors: Needs, Concerns, and Quality of Life

“…A total score was obtained by adding all item scores together, with a higher score indicating higher caregiver strain (Onega, 2013). The MCSI has been used in stroke caregiver research including studies of perceived burden and stress with test–retest reliability of .88 and internal reliability coefficient of .09 (Ferguson et al, 2020; Onega, 2013; Serfontein et al, 2019).…”

Health and economic impact of caregiving on informal caregivers of people with chronic diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review

“…The authors used qualitative and quantitative methods in 22 and 24 of the 47 articles respectively, with one article using mixed methods. Of the quantitative studies, three (26)(27)(28) were longitudinal studies and the rest had a cross-sectional study design. The articles were from fourteen countries representing all the sub-regions of SSA.…”

“…The articles were from fourteen countries representing all the sub-regions of SSA. The highest number of articles (11/47) were from Nigeria (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39) and South Africa (11,26,27,(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47), while each of the following countries had one (1/47) article; Togo (48), Zimbabwe (49), Kenya (50), Sudan (51), Democratic Republic of Congo (52) and Cameroon (25). Among the articles from South Africa, two used data from the same study (42,43).…”

“…Work-related effects of caregiving (9,11,12,21,25,26,(40)(41)(42)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)50,55,59,62,64,66,68) 3. Financial challenges (11,26,27,31,33,(35)(36)(37)39,40,42,(45)(46)(47)50,(62)(63)(64)(66)(67)(68) Impact of caregiving Health impact of caregiving 1. Impact on the physical health of ICG (21,25,30,35,38,40,43,45,…”

Editorial Comment

“…In two of the articles featured in this issue 1,2 , part of the data required for the studies were gathered from the existing data from records available at the institution/department in which they were being conducted. In most cases however, researchers collect 'new' data by employing either available data collection measures, or by designing their own.…”