Psychosocial factors associated with the use/non-use of mental health services by primary carers of individuals with dementia

✍ Scribed by Darren Mockler; John Riordan; Marian Murphy

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 111 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199805)13:5<310::aid-gps765>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

The study investigated psychosocial factors associated with the use/non-use of services by primary carers of people with dementia (caring for relative/friend with dementia). The factors considered were individual dierences, health, stress, family/social support, years of caring, age of carers/person with dementia, gender and level of behavioural disturbance presented by the person with dementia. The participants were referred to the study by health services, social services representatives and GPs. The carers (N 50) were divided into two groups (service user/ non-user). The ®ndings indicated that primary carers in the non-user service group scored signi®cantly higher on a measure (sense of coherence; SOC) estimating an individual's ability to deal with stressful situations. The individual's ability to deal with caring responsibilities was associated with a reduction in the level of diagnosable psychiatric disorder or `caseness' and the non-use of services. None of the other factors considered were found to be signi®cantly dierent between the two carer groups. However, a signi®cant inverse association between health, stress and individual ability to deal with stressful situations was found when the two carer groups were combined.