| Summary: | 碩士 === 中臺科技大學 === 醫療暨健康產業管理系碩士班 === 106 === Abstract
Research Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to explore the influences of family coping behaviors, psychological distress, social support, and patient behavioral problems on family functioning in families providing care for a member with schizophrenia. Family function and caregiver burden theory provided the theoretical framework for this study.
Research Method:
The study was set in the psychiatric outpatient department、day care ward、home home community of a mental hospital in the central Taiwan and data was collected by means of quantitative research. A convenience sample of 190 families providing care for a family member with schizophrenia; the valid questionnaires were 84.73%. The data was gathered through valid and reliable questionnaires, being analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression analysis (α=0.05). Among of group differences were analyzed using unpaired t test for comparison of caregiver burden theory and family function means and subscale scores. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to find the direction and magnitude of association between the various dimensions (subscales) of caregiver burden theory and family function from family.
Research Results:
Subjects’ average score for family functional feeling was 95.08. From high to low, the “roles function” and “health care function and normative function” were ranked in sequence. The others were from high-low, “emotional function”, “independent dependent function”, “problem solving function”, “power decision function”, “communication function”, “education function”, and “couple function”. The average score for the caregiver burden is 29.34, which is a moderate load. There was a significant negative correlation between family function and caregiver burden. In other words, the better the overall family function, the lighter the overall caregiver burden. The family functional variables for regression analysis, “problem solving function”, “emotional function”, “character function”, “couple function” and “independence dependent function” can predict 37.0% of the total variation in the caregiver burden. Findings indicate that the five items can effectively predict the overall caregiver burden perception of the primary caregiver in patients with schizophrenia. This knowledge may be useful for mental health nurses in assessing families and developing nursing interventions.
Research Conclusions:
The family is an important factor which affects the patient’s mental well-being and outcome. However, the family may itself be burdened by the enormous hardships created by the schizophrenic patient. A comprehensive and empathic understanding of the family members on various dimensions would throw more light in determining the behavioral patterns existing in the family and development of newer treatment techniques. Providing better social support and understanding the family functioning will result in strengthening the family as a unit, so as to provide better care to the patient.
Key words: Schizophrenia, Family Function, Care Burden
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