| Learning Objective #1: Describe the experiences and informational and support needs of family caregivers of Hispanic persons with a new spinal cord injury following rehabilitation | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Identify strategies to meet the informational and support needs of family caregivers of newly spinal-cord-injured Hispanic individuals following rehabilitation |
OBJECTIVE: The overall goal of this study is to describe the experience of family caregivers of newly injured Hispanic SCI survivors to develop interventions to meet their potentially unique informational and decision support needs during the transition from rehabilitation to home.
DESIGN: A multi-method, descriptive design was used for this study.
SAMPLE: A convenience sample of 15 family caregivers of newly injured Hispanic SCI persons participated in a focus group. Family caregivers of SCI survivors injured within the last 2 years were included. The sample was comprised primarily of Hispanic females.
CONCEPTS STUDIED: family caregiver, quality of life (QOL), rehabilitation
METHODS: A focus group was conducted to explore and describe the experiences of family caregivers of newly injured Hispanic SCI individuals during the first year after rehabilitation. Participants also completed a health-related QOL instrument, the SF-36. Data analysis included the constant comparative method, content analysis, and descriptive statistics for background and QOL data.
FINDINGS: The needs and experiences of family caregivers may be very different because of strong family ties, well-defined gender roles, intense independence, often limited resources, and potential social isolation.
CONCLUSIONS: Although qualitative data fell into similar thematic categories as in previous studies with non-Hispanic Whites and African Americans, the particular needs in these categories differed among Hispanic family caregivers.
IMPLICATIONS: Although Hispanic SCI persons comprise about one-half of the injuries in South Texas, little is known about their family caregivers’ experiences and needs during the early recovery period. Future research can test interventions with caregiver and patient outcomes of quality of life, role and social function, mental health and adjustment. In addition, if the informational and decision support needs of family caregivers can be better met, it is anticipated that complications and hospital readmissions, and consequently costs associated with SCI, can be reduced.
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Back to 14th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
10-12 July 2003