Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Vidyadayini Shetty ¹, Sushma Mehrotra ¹

Affiliations
1 Nagindas Khandwala College, Malad, Mumbai, Maharashtra, IN

Abstract

Presence of family members as caregivers has helped to identify HIV-related medical conditions and bring it to the notice of the health care personnel. Informal caregivers now not only monitor drug adherence but also provide psychological support and care to the HIV infected which has helped in improving their productivity and quality of life. As the informal caregivers are not prepared for the HIV caregiving, neither trained nor compensated, they experience psychological distress which results into symptoms of depression and anxiety. In addition, lack of support, stigma and discrimination heightens the psychological distress experienced by the informal caregivers. Studies on etiology of depression and anxiety indicate a number of demographic variables as predictor variables. The study aims to investigate the relationship of demographic variables such as age, education, and income affecting the caregivers' depression and anxiety. The sample consisted of 112 informal caregivers from NGOs in Mumbai. The results show that demographic variables such as education and income were associated with elevated levels of depression and anxiety. However, there was no significant relationship found between age and caregiver's depression and anxiety.

Keywords

Informal Caregives,depresion,anxity,eduction,age,income

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Vidyadayini Shetty ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Psychology, Nagindas Khandwala College, Malad West, IN

Abstract

Caring for the chronically sick generally is very stressful task. Caregiving is also considered gender specific task. The present study was undertaken to find out who are the Informal caregivers (ICGs) of people living with HIV (PLHIV). The study also examines the gender differences in depression and anxiety experienced by ICGs and the attitudes towards the caregiving process. The findings indicate that majority of the ICGs are females. There was a significant difference in anxiety scores, but no significant difference in depression scores among males and females. Mean attitude scores of female caregivers was significantly higher as compared to male caregivers.

Keywords

Gender, Attitudes, Anxiety, Depression, Informal Caregivers.

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