Family Caregivers of Chronically Ill Patients: Perception of Functional Social Support

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the family caregivers of chronically ill perception of functional social support. Method: It is a quantitative, descriptive study developed with two instruments: characterization of caregivers and the Duke-UNC Functional Social Questionnaire. The sample included 179 caregivers of non-institutionalized patients who were suffering from chronic diseases and being treated at a general hospital in Colombia. Once the information was collected, a descriptive analysis was conducted to identify the essential variables in the study. Results: Most of the caregivers (54.7%) perceived the overall functional social support provided by the immediate environment as being inadequate; 45.3% expressed the opposite. As to confidential support, the largest percentage of participants (53.6%) perceived it as inadequate; 46.4% felt it was excellent. Similarly, in terms of the affective dimension, 51.4% of the caregivers perceived it as inadequate, while 48.6% described it as adequate. Conclusions: The results reported for the various dimensions suggest the need to reinforce the extent to which caregivers are integrated into formal and informal systems, so as to give them a sense of added support from the social environment, thereby facilitating the process of coping and adapting to the demands posed by their new situation.