2005 Volume 8 Issue 3 Pages 147-153
Goal : The goal of this research is to clarify the relationship between the burden of long-term care and mental health in the Primary Caregivers of Seniors requiring Support Care. Subjects : The survey subjects comprised 1,143 primary caregivers living in Japan (A city), and were selected from among persons acting as primary caregivers (as of April 1, 2002) for the 5,189 Class 1 insured parties who had received care need certification. The selection was based on the caregivers' willingness to assist with the survey. "Care burden" was defined by the "Family Care Burden Index, " and "Mental health" was defined by the UK version of GHQ-12. The relationship between care burden and mental health was analyzed using structure equation modeling. Results : The previously described causal relationship model fit with the data, and the contribution rate of care burden to mental health was 66.7%. Observations : These results indicate that care burden has a significant effect on the maintenance and promotion of the mental health of primary caregivers caring for seniors suffering from care burden. Conclusion : This study indicates that relieving the burden of care felt by caregivers is an issue in terms of continuing home care for seniors suffering from care burden.