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How can we help the helper? – informal caregivers` psychosocial health and needs Passed

Tuesday May 14, 2024 15:44 - 16:30 Poster Arena

Presenter: Sonja Togmat Malki

Track: Informal Care and Support, Posters

Poster can be found in location 18.

Background: The proportion of elderly people in the world is increasing and this means an increased strain and burden on the healthcare system. More people will need to be involved in informal care in the future. Current figures show that informal care accounts for about 3.5% of the total GDP (Gross domestic product) in Europe and this is expected to increase as the number of hospital beds in health and social care is expected to decrease. Aim: To map the psychosocial health and the need for information and support among informal caregivers in Sweden. Furthermore, to find out how they feel about receiving the support via the internet. Method: The design is a closed-ended survey including background questions as well as four instruments to map the informal caregiver’s psychosocial health and needs for information and support. The instruments used are the caregiver burden scale (CBS), the depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21), the caregiver competence scale (CCS) and the rewards of caregiving scale (RCS). The study is advertised via the Swedish Family Care Competence Centre, different patient associations and social media. The survey is administered digitally using our platform iterapi.se, which is a secure platform, using procedures like those used by internet banking, and with a plan to include 200 informal caregivers in Sweden. The data will be analyzed with descriptive statistics. The importance of the study: Data collection will continue until the end of January 2024 and therefore there are no results to present yet. The results of the study will provide important information about the psychosocial health of informal caregivers, as well as their need for information and support. This information is planned to be used to develop and evaluate an internet-based support program for informal caregivers. 

Language

English

Seminar type

Poster

Conference

GCPCC

Authors

Sonja Togmat Malki, Frida Andreasson, Gerhard Andersson, Peter Johansson, Ghassan Mourad

Lecturers

Sonja Togmat Malki Presenter

Linköping University