A Qualitative Study on Lived Experience of Caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease Clients and the Effectiveness of the Booklet on Caregiver's Burden at Selected Alzheimer's Care Centers in Kerala

A qualitative study on lived experience of caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease clients and the effectiveness of the booklet on caregiver's burden at selected Alzheimer's care centers in Kerala was conducted to explore and describe the lived experience of caregivers of Alzheimer's disease clients with a view to reduce their care burden through use of booklet on “They are valuable for us”.

The study used a triangulation approach. The care burden of the caregivers of Alzheimer's disease clients were assessed using Zarit caregiver's burden scale. And the data obtained were analysed. Among the 40 samples five samples had care burden score above 50%. They were interviewed using the semi structured interview guide and a booklet titled “They are valuable for us” was developed and implemented. After one month the caregiver's burden was reassessed using Zarit caregiver's burden scale.

The qualitative analysis derived 11 essential themes. They are deficient knowledge about Alzheimer's disease, inability to meet the physical needs, inability to manage the behavioural problems, endurance, depression, fear of social isolation, reaching to the truth, the need for assistance, physical distress and dependency. The quantitative analysis of the care burden showed that the mean pretest care burden was 37.2 and that of the post-test care burden was 30.1. The ‘t’ computed between the pretest and posest care burden score was 5.625, p < 0.05. The study concluded that the booklet on “They are valuable for us” was effective in reducing the care burden of caregivers of Alzheimer's disease clients.