Factors determining satisfaction of elderly peoples caregivers with the home care they provide

Introduction: Family is the basic institution providing informal care to elderly and disabled individuals. Purpose: To present care situations encountered by persons providing home care to an elder, the caregivers’ needs for support and the factors determining their satisfaction with the care they provide. Materials and methods: The study was conducted at the Geriatric Ward of the Hospital of the Ministry of Interior in Bialystok among 105 home caregivers of the elderly. A diagnostics survey was based on an original survey questionnaire and the COPE Index. Functional capacity in the elderly (N=100) was determined based on the Barthel ADL (activities' in daily living) Index and the category of nursing care (category, I-III). The analysis covered also the pressure sore risk assessment (the Norton Scale). Results: The analysis based on the Barthel ADL Index showed that over 30.0% of the elderly individuals were given up to 40 points in the nursing assessment (seriously disabled). Almost all patients – 97.0% qualified to the 3rd category of nursing care. 64.0% of the elderly had an increased risk of pressure sore development (the Norton Scale). The problems connected with providing home care listed by caregivers included the lack of time, disability of the elder and locomotion difficulties. The analysis based on the Cope Index showed a positive relationship between the caregiver’s age (r=0.216), education (r=0.196), the distance from the elder’s home (r=0.216), the quality of received support (r=0.554), and the satisfaction in the care provided. Conclusions: Caregivers reported the need for different forms of support. Higher education, longer distance from home and the quality of received support were significantly associated with higher satisfaction with caregiving.