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| :: Depression risk for caregivers :: |
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Caregivers of chronically ill patients who frequently require prolonged attention in a hospital environment often place themselves at an increased risk of depression, according to a new study.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, assigned 290 caregivers to random disease management programs for a period of eight weeks. More than 200 were assigned to care for patients within a hospital setting, while the rest administered at-home care to patients.
Two months after the conclusion of care, the research team administered depression tests for both groups. Doctors found that caregivers residing in the hospital scored higher on depression tests than the control group (15.5 percent vs. 9.63 percent). A lack of family support for the patient, along with disrupted treatment schedules also adversely affected the caregivers' mental health.
But the study also offers hope - disease management programs that employ emotional assistance as well as individualized care seem to reduce the effects of depression.
Sara L. Douglas, Ph.D., R.N., the study's lead author, believed the depression associated with supervision is attributed to the fact that caregivers often indirectly assume a similar emotional state to that of the patient
"Some possible sources of their risk for depression could be the more debilitated nature of institutionalized patients, possible guilt because the patient is not being cared for at home, and possible frustration by caregivers who have less control over their loved one's care in an institutional setting," Douglas said.
The findings of the study can be found in the December issue of Chest, the journal of the American College of Chest Physicians
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HealthNewsDigest.com |
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