CC10
Role of Interdisciplinary Team in Managing Caregiver's Stress
Caregiver’s stress* is a burden that a caregiver faces while providing necessary care tasks to the family member with MS. It can be physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial. It is both objective and perceived. The perceived burden has a direct correlation with risks of depression and lower quality of life. It has been documented in various studies that almost half of the caregivers experience clinical depression, 61% of intense family caregivers experience depression (Haley LaMonde, Han, Narramore & Schonwetter, 2001; Pochard et al., 2001; Rabow et al.)
Tools: It is important to provide timely intervention by diagnosing it early. Following are the tools to assess Caregiver’s stress:
- CAREQOL- MS
- Zarit Caregiver’s Burden Interview
- Kingston Caregiver’s Stress Scale
- SF-36
Management:
- Interdisciplinary team approach to address Caregiver’s burden: Physician, RN, SW, RD and OT.
- Education about caregiver’s task skills pertaining to care giving/ proper techniques
- Education regarding management of symptoms/ side effects/ new research/ medications
- Stress Management
- Teaching about warning signs of burden
- Counseling services
- Increase socialization/ social participation
- Community support group
Conclusions: Using a case study, we are able to conclude that Interdisciplinary team approach plays an instrumental role in managing Caregiver’s Stress and improving quality of life for both caregiver and patient.
*Assessment of Caregiver Burden in families of person with Multiple Sclerosis, Marijean Buhse Vol. 40 No. 1 February 2008, Journal of Neuroscience Nursing