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Projecting social support needs of informal caregivers in M alaysia
Author(s) -
Abu Bakar Siti Hajar,
Weatherley Richard,
Omar Noralina,
Abdullah Fatimah,
Mohamad Aun Nur Saadah
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
health and social care in the community
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.984
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1365-2524
pISSN - 0966-0410
DOI - 10.1111/hsc.12070
Subject(s) - social support , psychology , exploratory research , emotional support , sample (material) , clinical psychology , social psychology , chemistry , chromatography , sociology , anthropology
This article presents the findings of a self‐report study of the consequences of being an informal caregiver in M alaysia. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine M alaysian efforts in assisting informal caregivers, based on an analysis of the issues and concerns raised by the caregivers themselves. Data were obtained from a cross‐sectional survey of informal caregivers in 2009. This sample comprised parents, spouses and/or adult siblings, and adult children, caring for their children, spouses or siblings and parents who were chronically ill and/or had a disability. Of 300 prospective participants, only 175 could be located (58%), but all those contacted agreed to participate. Respondents were randomly selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire to identify the emotional, financial, social and physical issues consequent upon being a caregiver. Most respondents reported that their care‐giving responsibilities had impacted their emotional, financial, social and/or physical well‐being. Inadequate and/or uncertain income was by far the greatest concern followed in descending order by social, physical and emotional consequences. The one‐way analysis of variance showed significant differences among the three categories of caregivers with respect to physical and emotional consequences. The findings show that care‐giving has detrimental effects on the lives of informal caregivers, and that they are in significant need of social support to help them deal with care‐giving tasks and responsibilities. Based on the findings, an integrated social support programme is proposed, tailored to the needs of informal caregivers.