| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 臨床暨社區護理研究所 === 100 === Purpose: This study had the purposes of comparing various aspects of social support and quality of life seen in female foreign spouses, in situations where she did and did not provide disability caregiving for her spouse, child, or an extended family member. Comparisons of care burden, quality of life, and levels of social support were looked at for the two situations.
Background: Female foreign nationals coming to Taiwan to become spouses of native Taiwan citizens has a long history. A basically unnoticed consequence of this influx is that significantly more of these foreign spouses have played the role of a “full-time” caretaker for mentally and physically disabled family members when compared to their native counterparts. Apparently, these alien spouses have played a pivotal role in prolonged, and essentially unrecognized, caretaking careers. Their caretaking loads, quality of life and accessibility to the social support system needs further attention.
Methods: In the present study, we adopted purposeful sampling, with samples chosen from six of the major geographical regions of the National Health Insurance system. Subjects chosen from these communities totaled 192 alien spouses, 64 of which were classified as caretakers. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and by conducting interviews. The tools used for this study included, among others, demographic data of alien spouses, social support, care burden, and quality of life. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to look into the care burden and quality of life related factors.
Results: (1) Among the caretakers, the majority are of Vietnamese origin, their average age is 36.80 years, and their care burden score average was 33.78. Among all facets of care burden, “psychological burden” scored significantly higher than the facets of no care and quality of life. A negative relationship was found between care burden and quality of life. (2) Between the care group and no-care group, there is an apparent difference in the level of social support, and a positive relationship is seen between the level of need for social support and the care burden. (3) The factors of “self-felt health conditions”, “self-perceived economic status”, “extent of the need for social support”, “aggregate of score in care burden” ,“support frequency in social support”, “relationship with the caretaking targets (targets’ children)”, “extent of adequacy in social support” represent the variables of major predictors in various aspects of the quality of life for the caretaking targets. (4) The “Extent of the need for social support”, “self-felt health conditions”, “relationship with the mentally and physically disabled people (spouses thereof)”, and “cognitive function”, in order of most to least influence, represent the predictor variables for the care burden of the caretakers.
Conclusion: The present study indicates that foreign spouses in the care and no care groups have an apparent difference in their quality of life, suggesting that the care burden of the caretaking targets negatively affects the spouse’s quality of life. Accordingly, in a prolonged caretaking career, both the caretaking targets and caretakers should be equally considered when planning the method of care. They must be given the means upgrade the quality of their life, and an adequate level of accessibility to available support. Such efforts will minimize the care burden upon the caretakers.
Keywords: female foreign spouses, care burden, social support, quality of life
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