Effectiveness of use of home health nurses to decrease burden & depression of elderly caregivers

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of home health nursing intervention on burden and depression of elderly caregivers who were caring for an ill relative in their home. Two groups of caregivers were compared for differences in caregiver burden and depression. The caregivers in the control group did not use the services of home health nurses, whereas the caregivers in the experimental group did use these services. Data were analyzed using the Burden Interview and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Multiple analysis of variance confirmed that caregivers who used the services of home health nurses were significantly less burdened and less depressed than caregivers who did not use these services.