Caregiving experiences of older family caregivers of persons with heart failure: A mixed methods study.
Dawon Baik, Colleen Kelley McIlvennan, Christina Baker and 1 others
PMID 36126441WHAT IT FOUND
Older family caregivers of people with heart failure described worry, sleep loss, and reduced activity, yet most embraced the role and managed distress through family support and shared activities.
They also reported low burden and high quality of life.
Key findings
01All participants discussed psychological distress, including anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, frustration, and worry linked to the person's heart failure trajectory.
02Survey scores indicated low stress (8.2 ±5.7), depression (7.8±4.5), anxiety (24.8±6.2), and caregiver burden (23.2±11.6), with high quality of life subscale scores from 68.8 (±14.6) to 90.8 (±8.1) and self-efficacy scores above 74.
03Most caregivers embraced the role, found it hard to separate spouse or partner from caregiver, and said it was not a problem or burden.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted at one academic medical center, so it may not reflect caregivers in other settings. Only 13 caregivers participated, and most were non-Hispanic White, female, and spouses, limiting generalizability. Surveys were completed by telephone during the pandemic, and response or social desirability bias is possible. The study did not test any intervention, so it cannot show which caregiver support works. The survey scores and interview reports differed: low measured burden coexisted with described distress, so a single score may miss caregiving strain.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding or conflict-of-interest declarations.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the low survey scores as proof that these caregivers were not distressed. The interviews described physical, social, and psychological distress, and the sample was small, single-site, mostly White spouses, so the findings are descriptive.