Articles Seem to Be Saying Same Thing

¶ … 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 of the caregivers was 59; most of them cared for their husbands.

The researchers surveyed the caregivers over a total of nine weeks using instruments that constituted the following: a General Questionnaire about Caregiving, Mini Mental State Examination scores, the Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Geriatric Depression Scale. 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 yet have Alzheimer's (not-as-yet caregivers). 80 community residents from the Dallas=Fort Worth

metropolis, Austin, and San Antonio in Texas were recruited, 42 people were active caregivers; the other 37 individuals were not-as-yet caregivers. The active caregivers were 34 females and 8 males; 25 children and 17 spouses. The not-as-yet caregivers consisted of 29 females, 9 males, 23 children, and 15 spouses. About 82% of the not-as-yet caregiver participants were married whilst of the active caregiver group about 88% were married. The income of both groups tallied.

The participants filled out a background information form about relevant demographic. They were also paid for their participation. The measures constituted the following: the Expressive Support Scale (ESS) that was used to measure the caregiver's subjective perception of his burden; the Alzheimer's disease Knowledge Test (ADK); the Facts on Aging Quiz (FAQ); the Personal Anxiety toward Aging Scale (PAA); the Locus of Control Scale (LCS); and the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) (a personality test). Also used were the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Version (GDS-S), and the Caregiving Burden scale (CB) to measure depression. Regression analysis was conducted.

Researchers discovered that both caregivers suffered from depression and anxiety but that whilst fear of aging and personality factors (mainly extraversion) were the main source of depression of active caregivers, the second category primarily suffered from lack of social support which contributed to their depression.

The burden of the caregiver was also measured and dominant factors that resulted in perceived level of burden was lack of social support, fear of own aging, and guilt and that these factors held consistent for both groups.

The researchers concluded that this research is helpful in enabling people who will be faced with the possibility of becoming caregivers to build their social support, learn active-self-care skills, and educate themselves about what is meaningful in growing older. Part of the benefits of doing so, the researchers observed, would lie in reduction of cost that would otherwise be spent in improving physical and emotional health. The researchers also came to this conclusion by noting that personality attributes contributed more to depression, or to alleviation of depression, than did lack of social support. Younger individuals were also more prone to depressive characteristics (such as fear of aging, anxiety, and guilt). Stress management skills would therefore be a perquisite for them as well as learning how to manage their emotions.

Contrast between the two articles: Discussion

Both articles sampled a population of caregivers and demonstrate the anxiety and stress that caregivers feel. Cultural distinctions, however, influence the two studies, and these distinctions are apparent not only in the measures that were used but also in the results reached.

The measures that Sansoni et al. (2004) used were relevant to the intent of their study: they measured depression and anxiety of caregivers as well as the mental state of their patients. The measures that Hayslip et al. (2008), however, used demonstrated a clear bias to normative and contemporary American culture in that they included measurement of self-efficacy of caregiver, fear of aging (very much an American concern), locus of control, and personality factors (also an American obsession). These tests supplemented the core tests of measuring depression and anxiety of caregiver and, consequently, the study imported American subjectivity into its investigation associating depression and anxiety with fears of aging and lack of locus of control.