Philippine E-Journals

Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions to Address Stroke Survivors’Informal Carer Burden

Christopher Martin A Tañedo | Marie Antonette J Sunga-Vargas

 

Abstract:

Significant researches are being conducted to bring back the quality of life among survivors of stroke. Studies address the issues and needs of those who had suffered from it. However, families and caregivers of the stroke survivors are mostly neglected in their needs about the encumbrance brought about by role changes in the family to take care of the stroke survivor. Although Europeans, North Americans, and people from neighboring countries such as Australia have started to address this specific gap, there are no existing studies about this in the Philippines. The objective, therefore, was to assess the informal carer burden and sense of competence using a standardized assessment questionnaire. Data gathered was the basis for the informal carer support program developed. The latter was pilot-tested in selected localities of Pampanga. Results showed that the intervention group and the control group vary in terms of a sense of competence (pre-test) and the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group. However, the intervention group and the control group did not differ when it came to their carer burden (pre-test). Moreover, findings illustrated that a significant difference between the control group and intervention group in terms of their carer burden and sense of competence post-test was present. The level of carer burden and sense of competence were also higher among the control group. With the generated outcome, the program implemented was effective in addressing the burden experienced by informal carers of stroke survivors.