Assessment of Care Giver Burden and Coping Strategies among Care Givers of Elderly

Abstract

Introduction: Caregiver burden is experienced by a person who is taking care of a disabled or
chronically ill, and an old age person in the family. Many caregivers experience burdens and using
various coping strategies in their day-to-day life. Objectives: The objective of the study was to
assess the burden, coping strategies, correlation and association among care givers of elderly with
their selected demographic variables. Methods: By using convenient sampling technique 303
caregivers were recruited in the selected villages of Bardoli, Gujarat. After obtaining written
consent caregivers was interviewed. The data was collected on Elderlies and Caregiver’s socio-
demographic data, Zarit Caregiver Burden Assessment and Brief COPE tools. Results: Most of
them 181 (66.0%) caregivers had moderate level of burden and 92(30%) had high burden and only
30 (10%) of care giver had mild burden. The 10% of the samples had low levels of coping, 30%
high levels, and 60% of them with medium levels of coping orientation towards the elderly care.
There was moderately positive correlation found between caregiver burden and coping strategies.
There was a significant association between care giver burden with their age, care giver relation
and time given of care giving. The study revealed that there was a significant association between
care giver coping orientation with their age and occupation. Conclusion: The caregiver’s burden is
more common among caregivers who care for elderly. Caregivers had been found by using avoidant
coping strategies more than problem oriented coping strategies. The Caregiver burden and its
impact with various coping strategies need to be explored in detail and measures need to be taken to
reduce their burden.