Extraction of Factors for Home-visiting Nurses to Determine Family Caregivers Who Need Support after Bereavement

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The aim of this study was to extract factors for home-visiting nurses to determine family caregivers who need support after bereavement. Methods: A questionnaire was constructed and administered to 105 family caregivers of terminally ill patients. Using the survey responses, factors were extracted that would allow home-visiting nurses to judge the necessity of bereavement support before and after the deaths of the patients. Of the 105 family caregivers, 30 consented to participate in the survey. Researchers interviewed the 30 family caregivers using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the SF-8TM health survey to assess the health-related quality of life. The obtained data were analyzed using the mathematical quantification theory class II. Results: The extracted factors included the existence of a disease under medical treatment, the existence of dissatisfaction with medical services, the existence of the economic burden of a disease, a married couple consisting of persons aged over 75 years, family members living in the home who tended to leave care to the primary caregiver, no reliable family members or relatives outside the home, and a tendency to refrain from requesting others’ help (the discrimination hit ratio was 76.7%, the correlation ratio was 0.42, and P=0.001). The criterion-related validity of judgments by home-visiting nurses was verified. Conclusion: These seven factors were revealed as important for determining family caregivers who need support after bereavement.