Caregivers burden in nursing homes for patients with dementia: the importance of psychological support

Background: family caregivers are an essential part of healthcare services for elderly with dementia. Most of them continue caregiving for their relatives after admitting them to long-term care facilities. The characteristics of this caregiving differ from those related to caregiving in home-care settings and have been rarely studied in literature. Objective: to investigate the differences of burden evolution between caregivers of patients with dementia in a Nursing Home joining a support/psycho educational group and caregivers who did not. Methods: 29 caregivers (7M-22F, age: 59±7.8) of demented patients who were undergoing a standard rehabilitation program in our Institute (≈ 90 days) were administered the Caregiver Burden Inventory at the beginning and at the end of hospitalization. These caregivers took part in a support/ psycho educational group (two hours, twice a month) conducted by a trained psychologist. The results we obtained were compared to a control group, that did not participate to the encounters. Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student’s paired t test (Student’s t paired groups) were conducted. Results: the two groups did not differ for demographical variables; the two correspondant groups of patients did not differ for clinical/demographical and neuropsychological variables, too. Only caregivers who participated to the group reduced their burden significantly at the end of the program (p<0.001). Conclusions: our study supports the hypothesis that the simple absence of a patient from home is not enough to prevent and reduce caregiver burden. Support/psycho educational groups are a fundamental resource for families and should be part of their healthcare in every stage of the disease and in every context.