¶ … articles seem to be saying same thing or do they contradict each other? Is the tone similar in each article, meaning can you tell what the researchers feel about the subject? Do they support the same idea, did they hypothesize similar ideas?
The following are two research essays on the burden of caregivers. The similarities of both essays are that both demonstrate the huge responsibility and unmitigated onus that caregivers carry that consequent in causing them stress and hardship. Differences include the fact that one was carried out on a population in Italy, whilst the other was carried out on a sample in America.
It is striking, too, to note, that although both concluded that caregivers needed more support, the American study recommended ways that individuals could create this for themselves, whilst the Italians-based study placed the responsibility on the community and social work profession. The tone of the articles, too, differed in that the American-based study took a far more active stance to the problem advising caregivers to aggressively improve their situation. The whole serves as commentary on the way that science in general, and social work, in particular, is influenced by cultural nuances. The European study is far less inspired by beliefs of self-responsibility and actualization than the American researchers of the second study were.
Summary of Sansoni et al. (2003)
Italy has a huge population of patients with dementia calculated at approximately 6%; 57% of whom suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD). Italy, being the family oriented culture that it is, also has approximately 80 -- 90% of this population receiving care form their family, and the caregivers are predominantly women. Many former studies have evaluated the problems that caregivers experience, but none have used a repeated measures design (i.e. A study that has been respeated onh Te same population using various instrumetns). To that end, and in order to Investigate the levels of anxiety and depression in female caregivers who were caring for AD patients, Sansoni et al. (2003) surveyed a sample of 34 female Italian Alzheimer's caregivers who lived in three major Italian cities and who were the principal caregivers of patients who lived in their homes. The average age...
Participants spent three days filling out the various reports. The patients were tested with the MMSE in order to verify their state of dementia.
Results showed that caregivers suffered high levels of anxiety (76%) and depression (42%), and that this was positively correlated with long hours of care. 56% of the caregivers, too, stated they suffered from physical illnesses, whilst 32% stated that they suffered from psychological illnesses. Statistical data showed positive association between depression and anxiety and physical and psychological illness showing that the one was linked with the other. Researchers also found that depression and anxiety was negatively correlated with levels of education and time for leisure activities in that caregivers who had received more education and were more involved in leisure activity were less likely to become depressed or showed lower levels of depressions. No correlation, however, was found between the Mini Mental State Examination scores and depression or stress indicating that the extent of the burden had nothing to do with extent of mental impairment. It was large regardless of severity of mental impairment. The researchers concluded that caregivers needed to be given more social and communal support and that this support needs to extend to educational services as well as to enhanced respite / health care support. They ended with a list of eight recommendations for nurses of how they can support caregivers in their onerous role and emphasized that more studies need to be conducted in order to identify the problems that caregivers in Italy experience in looking after their patients.
Summary of Hayslip et al. (2008)
Hayslip et al. (2008) conducted their study in America and examined similarities and differences between children and spouses who cared for a relation with Alzheimer's (active caregivers) to children and spouses who cared for elderly relatives who did not…
