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[Chronic patients confined to home and their impact on the family: a qualitative study]
C Puig1, L M Hernández-Monsalve, J J Gérvas
1Equipo CESCA, Madrid.
Objective:
To describe and assess the social and psychic overload which falls on those who care for chronically ill patients confined to their homes.
Design:
Qualitative study, with semi-structured interviews. SITE: Primary care in the public sector, in an urban context.
Patients Or Others Participants:
Those caring for the chronically ill, confined to their homes, and who are included in the home care programme of a General Medicine office.
Intervention:
Semi-structured interview and analysis of the clinical history. Data were obtained concerning: 1. The general characteristics of the patient; 2. General characteristics of the carer; and 3. Social activities, family relationships and both physical and psychological health of the carers.
Main Results:
12 patients were studied. Two of these had no carer. In the remaining ten cases, the carer was a member of the immediate family. Only one carer was male. In 60% of cases the carer showed dysfunction in relation to the family. There were social repercussions in 70% of the cases and psychiatric morbidity in 50%.
Conclusion:
Care of the chronically ill patient confined to the home carries with it a serious social and psychological burden, which falls essentially on the wife or daughter.