ความพร้อมในการดูแลและภาระของผู้ดูแลผู้ป่วยโรคติดสุราโรงพยาบาลสวนปรุง จังหวัดเชียงใหม่

Abstract

Alcohol dependence is a mental health problem that has tremendous impact on the patients themselves and their caregivers. The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to examine the relationships between caregiving readiness and burdens among caregivers of alcohol dependent patients at Suan Prung Psychiatric Hospital in Chiang Mai Province. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 85 caregivers of patients with alcohol dependence at Suan Prung Psychiatric Hospital. Research instruments included: 1) Demographic Data Form; 2) The Caregiving Preparedness Questionnaire, developed by Duangduean Uten (2006) based on Stewart and Archbold’s concept (1986); and 3) The Burden Scale of Caregiver, developed by Theepprapin Sukkheo (2000) based on Pai and Kapur’s concept (1984). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results of the study revealed that: 1. The overall score of caregiving readiness among caregivers of alcohol dependent patients was at a moderate level. Considering each dimension, results showed that caregiving readiness for the domain of providing physical care, domain of emotional support, domain of health care services and resources support, domain of stress management during caregiving process, domain of self-care and caregiving satisfaction, domain of emergency management, domain of help and required information seeking, and domain of whole caring were also at a moderate level. 2. The overall burden score of the caregivers of alcohol dependent patients was at the obligation level. Results also showed that the subscale of objective burden and the subscale of subjective burden were at the obligation level. 3. There was a significantly negative correlation between the burden scores of caregivers and the overall and subscale scores of caregiving readiness. The results of the study could be used to develop support and training programs to guide caregivers of alcohol dependent patients to provide effective care for their patients and reduce their caregiving burdens.