Assessment of Burden among Caregivers of Mentally Ill Patients in Psychiatric Hospital Chacko Liji Jiju1,*, Dr. Pawar Alka2, Mr. Suresh3, Mr. David4, Mr. Sushant4, Mr. Darshan4, Mrs. Yojana4, Mrs. Shweta4, Mrs. Ashwini4 1Asst. Professor, Nursing Department, Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health, Government of Maharashtra, Sassoon Hospital, Pune. 411001 2Director-Professor, MIMH, Pune 3Lecturer Nursing, MIMH, Pune 4Former PBDPN Students, MIMH, Pune *Corresponding Author E-mail: lijijiju14@gmail.com
Online published on 27 December, 2018. Abstract In India the families are the primary caregivers for the illness including chronic mental illness, but there is a dearth of studies in this area.the families have relentlessly faced the stigma, the burden and displayed great lenacity in dealing with the illness, its disability and social consequences. The Objectives are to assess the level of burden among caregivers of mentally ill patients to associate the findings with selected demographic variables. A standardised tool on burden developed by Zarit et al in 1980 is a 22-item scale used to measure feelings of burden experienced by individuals caring for patients with mental illness. A sample of 60 caregivers were chosen from selected hospitals. According to the assessment done with the care givers burden scale it was found that 58% of care givers were having moderate stress, 22% were under mild stress and 20% had severe stress and there was no significant association of caregiver's burden with defined demographic variables. The results of this study have substantial implications for the planning of intervention strategies. assessing the burden thus helps towards a more rational and responsible patient care. Top Keywords Burden, Caregivers, Psychiatry, Hospital, Mentally ill. Top |