Coping and Emotional Comfort of Caregivers

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this research is to find coping strategies for dealing with stress among caregivers who look after a chronically ill family member and to assess which of the most common emotions they are experiencing.Methods: We used a standard 28-item questionnaire Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) with Likert scale with values of 6-1 and standardized Variety habitual emotional, subjective well-being in this study (Džuka, Dalbert, 2002). The questionnaire was distributed by nurses who care for ill relatives in the Home Care Agency. We used descriptive statistical methods.Results: Exploratory data includes answers from 30 respondents, who were caregivers of a patient with chronic illness at home. The average age of respondents was 66.3 years + 4,5, ranged between 56 and 71 years old. Concerning the custodies, these were the most often the life partners - husband / wife (63 %). The average length of treatment was half a year - year (27 %). Top active strategies for coping with stress were: planning, instrumental social support, acceptance, religiosity, emotional support, with the average from 4,65 to 4,27. The least used coping strategies were humor and drug use. Respondents experienced more frequent negative than positive emotions - pain with average 4,30, sadness 4,24, fear 4.23,Conclusion: The study shows that the caregivers can select an active strategy to help them overcome difficulties while taking care of the sick. When assessing emotional survival, we found out that respondents had negative emotions.