[Evaluating the health of the elderly and well-being of relatives caring for the elderly].
Facilitating a realistic appraisal of physical and psychiatric health parameters of a diseased family member has shown to be most important in counseling families with frail elder relatives. It is a prerequisite for adequate coping strategies to reduce caregiver burden, e.g. for the relief available using professional help. Data of a study on 140 families with a diseased elder relative (Bruder et al.) (1) are used to identify 6 types of families that differ maximally with regard to estimation of the old person's state of health (denial, realistic view or aggravation of disease by the caregiver and/or by the old person) by means of cluster analysis. A multiple regression of "caregiver wellbeing" on the elderly's "objective health status", on "family type" and on an interaction term "objective health status" by "family type" accounts for roughly 33% of the variance of caregiver wellbeing. A highly significant effect of the interaction term proves denial and/or aggravation of the elder person's state of disease to be detrimental to caregiver wellbeing given a certain grade of disease of the old person. A negative effect of the patient's disease on caregiver wellbeing is found especially for families a) with old person and caregiver misjudging physical deficits in opposite directions and b) with caregivers denying organic brain deterioration in their frail relative. A concept for counseling families reaching from information, support during the process of grieving about loss of the elder's capacities up to psychotherapeutically oriented help for family members is briefly described.
Schultze-Jena
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Arztliche Beratungsstelle für ältere Bürger und ihre Angehörigen, Norderstedt.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family; D006304:Health Status; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans
Beurteilung der Gesundheit alter Menschen und Wohlbefinden pflegender Angehöriger.