Caregiving Burden and Psycho-Educational Needs among Families of Patients with Psychotic Disorders

Ahmed Ahmed Abou Kahla, Mohamed; Abd El-Aziz Imam, Sanaa; Abd El-Gawad Ahmed Mousa, Marwa; Awad Abd El-Nabi Moussa, Amal

doi:10.21608/ejhc.2022.260892

Caregiving Burden and Psycho-Educational Needs among Families of Patients with Psychotic Disorders

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Assistant Lecturer of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Damanhour University.

² Professor of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University

³ Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University

⁴ Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Damanhour University

10.21608/ejhc.2022.260892

Abstract

Background: Family caregiving causes stress, depression and financial difficulties.
Therefore, caregivers require emotional support and psycho-education to effectively provide care
and support to their relatives with mental disorders. Aim of the study: Assess the caregiving burden
and psycho-educational needs among families of patients with psychotic disorders. Research
Design: A descriptive design was used in the present study. Setting: The study was conducted in
the outpatient clinic of El-Maamoura Hospital for Psychiatric Medicine. Subjects: A convenient
sample of 150 family caregivers of patients with psychotic disorders was recruited. Tools: Three
tools were used to collect the data (Caregiver Burden Inventory, The Educational Needs
Questionnaire, and Family Caregivers Socio-Demographic and Clinical Data Structured Interview
Schedule). Results: The majority of caregivers (93.3%) had a risk of burnout and near to two thirds
of caregivers (64.0%) showed high interest in the educational needs. Conclusion: Caring for a
patient with psychotic disorder within a family can put a great burden on whoever is providing the
care to the extent of exposing them to the risk of burnout. In response, the need for psycho-
education is expected and highly expressed by the caregivers, especially in the areas of coping with
stress, patient’s social functioning, patient’s symptoms and the resources available to help and
support them. Recommendations: A routine assessment of the psycho-educational needs and
caregiving burden of families' caregiver must be carefully considered while developing family-
centered interventions.

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