Symposium “ Family burden: dimensions, determinants and intervention”

Title of presentation: Determinants of the caregiving appraisal

Appraisal of caregiving and its relationship to family burden and experienced mental health problems in the relatives were investigated as part of a multi-centre study of the quality of mental health services in Sweden. The sample was drawn from relatives of involuntarily and voluntarily admitted patients to acute psychiatric wards. The instrument used was a semi-structured questionnaire, interviewing relatives about the burden, experience of mental health problems and appraisal of the caregiving situation.

The results showed a high proportion of relatives engaged in caregiving activities on a daily basis the month before the patient's admission to hospital and a high proportion of relatives appraising the caregiving activities negatively. The burden was more extensive if the relative and the patient were living together, had a longer duration of their relationship, if the relative was rendering caregiving on a daily basis and if the relative appraised caregiving negatively.

The relatives’ psychological distress was not related to their negative appraisal of caregiving, nor was patient characteristics, such as diagnosis and level of psychosocial functioning. The only factor found to influence the relatives’ psychological distress was the duration of relationship to the patient.

Interventions reducing psychological distress for relatives who have known the patients for more than 20 years, who live with the patient, who give care on a daily basis and who appraise their caregiving negatively are suggested.