“Assessment of Burden and Coping Strategies among Caregivers of Stroke Survivors in a Teaching Hospital in Ernakulam, Kerala”

to assess the burden among caregivers of stroke survivors, to identify the coping strategies among caregivers of stroke survivors, to find the association between burden and coping strategies among caregivers of stroke.

A quantitative approach was used with descriptive cross-sectional survey design; 155 caregivers of stroke survivors were selected as study subjects by purposive sampling technique. Data was collected by self report method using demographic profile, burden assessment schedule and coping checklist.

Results of the study revealed that 66% of the subjects have moderate burden, 24% of subjects have no burden and 10% of subjects have severe burden. Majority of the subjects adopted the coping strategy in the domain of emotional focused coping (24.89 ± 4.08). There is significant association between level of burden and different domains of coping strategies. It is revealed that burden has significant influence on different coping strategies.

Study concluded that caregivers experienced higher degree of burden. Burden was significantly associated with coping strategies. The study felt, the need of development of psycho educational program to assist caregivers to cope successfully with burden resulting from the care of stroke survivors.