Self-Efficacy and Caregiver Burden of Informal Caregivers in Tertiary Level Hospital in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Informal caregivers have been recognized as the backbone and strength of long-term care because of their involvement in care. However, they often are not prepared for caregiving role since illnesses are unanticipated. On top of that, most healthcare delivery models and professionals focus primarily on individual patients’ care, and the support given to caregivers is by providing how to manage the practical demands of caregiving. Moreover, they do not adequately engage, educate, or support informal caregivers to improve their well-being. Being not prepared physically and emotionally and lacking the skills threatens their self-efficacy in caring and makes them unprotected from caregiver burden, which can lead informal caregivers to be the next vulnerable population after their care recipients. The study aimed to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and caregiver burden among informal caregivers of terminally ill patients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study utilized descriptive- correlational design. The samples of this study were informal caregivers of terminally ill patients, particularly in the Oncology Department of Tawam Hospital, UAE. The result of the study showed that the two main variables, overall Self-efficacy in caregiving and overall Caregiver Burden, have a very weak negative relationship, rs (58) = -.12, p = .42, N = 60 at α = .05, however, the relationship was not statistically significant. The overall level of self-efficacy was High Self-efficacy in managing caregiving demands (M- 28.08; SD- 1.71). Among the sub-dimensions of self-efficacy were High Self-efficacy in Caring for Care Recipient (M- 8.21; SD- 1.04) and least in Caring for Oneself (M- 5.79; SD- 2.34). On the other hand, the overall level of caregiver burden was at a High Risk level for burnout or, in other words, severe level (M-36.67; SD- 0.22). Among the four burden domains, Time Dependence was the highest form of burden experienced (M-2.84, SD- 0.98), and the least was Emotional Burden (M- 0.11; SD 0.46). Among the demographics and other work-related profiles, the study shows that caregiver burden was not related to demographics and other work-related profiles; on the other hand, Self-Efficacy and Caregiving Duration (rs-0.301; p 0.19) were significantly related, and the rest were not significant. In this study, care recipients were independent in transferring (M- 2.28) and mobilizing (M-2.18) and severely dependent in terms of grooming (M- 1.13). Although the main variables were unrelated, this study provided us with the degree of self-efficacy in caregiving and caregiver burden experienced and predictors that affect the self-efficacy and burden of informal caregivers in UAE. This study recommends further research on a larger scale and test interventions in improving self-efficacy and decreasing the burden.