Caregiver burden, religious coping, and spiritual well‐being among caregivers of elderly stroke patients and predictors affecting spiritual well‐being

Abstract

BackgroundStroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. Stroke usually creates a range of disabilities such as physical deficits and difficulty in performing daily activities. These long‐term needs and the continuous caregiving sequence affect the care burden and spiritual well‐being of caregivers.MethodThe correlational study population consisted of caregivers of stroke older patients (N = 100). Burden Interview Scale, Spiritual Well‐Being Scale and Religious Coping Scale were used. Descriptive analyses, independent sample t‐test, one‐way analysis of variance, correlation, regression analyses were used to evaluate the data.ResultsThe mean age of caregivers was 48.38 ± 13.52 years. The score of Burden Interview Scale was 31.41 ± 15.13 (light/moderate), Negative Religious Coping was 7.39 ± 3.17 (moderate), Positive Religious Coping was 24.30 ± 4.34 (high), and Spiritual Well‐Being was 21.65 ± 6.73 (low). There is a significant relationship between Burden Interview and Negative Religious Coping (r = 0.274; P = 0.006), Burden Interview and spiritual well‐being (r = −0.563; P = 0.000), and spiritual well‐being and positive religious coping (r = 0.228; P = 0.026). The predictors that affect the spiritual well‐being of caregivers were found to be Burden Interview (β = −0.571) and Positive Religious Coping (β = 0.181) (P < 0.05).ConclusionNurses play an important role in increasing the spiritual well‐being levels and religious coping behaviours of caregivers. Nurses should communicate empathically with caregivers, understand their feelings, and provide emotional support.