Effects of short-term home visiting program on family caregivers of demented elders

초록

This study purports to examine the effects of a short-term home visiting program on primary caregivers of elders with dementia who were registered at a local health center in Incheon. About half of those caregivers with problems in supporting elderly's bathing, shampooing and washing face changed positively. Regarding self-evaluated physical and mental health status, 35% was changed in each health status to the positive direction with no statistical significance. Of those with bad mental health status, 80% changed significantly to the positive direction. Stress from caregiving was relieved among 52.9% of the families with no statistical significance. Caregiver's bad image toward their demented elder improved positively at 10% significance level. Sixteen families except for one were satisfied with our services and fourteen families wanted to have them continuously. Those high-risk families with demented elders need long-term services, while our short-term services seem to be more relevant for those families with elders at an early stage of dementia.