Effect of Social Support Group on Quality of Life and Burden of Primary Family Caregivers of Patients with Brain Injury

Lee, Young Mi; Park, Jeong Sook

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to assess the effect of social support group, in improving the quality of life and alleviating the burden of primary family caregivers of patients with brain injuries. The group consisted of the 34 concerned family members, who were identified as the primary family caregivers of patients with brain injuries. Data were collected from July 1st. to September 25th. 1998. Four social support group(consisting of 6-11 members) were involved over a 5-week period. During this period, each support group met the primary family caregivers once a week for an hour. A burden scale and quality of life scale were used to obtain the pre-test and post-test data. The data analysis (paired t-test, and Pearson correlation) was done using SPSS 7.0. The findings of the present study are as follow: 1. Hypothesis 1 ; "Caregivers burden will be decreased by participation of social support group compared to before" was suppoted( t=2.71, P<.011). 2. Hypothesis 2 ; "Caregivers quality of life will be increased participation of social support group compared to before" was rejected(t=1.98, P<.056). 3. Statistically significant negative correlation was found in the relationship between the burden and quality of life(r=-.5911, P= .000). In conclusion, it can be said that the participation of social support group in alleviating the burden of primary family caregivers of patients with brain injury is an effective nursing intervention.