Date of Degree

12-1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Program

Nursing

Advisor

Sandra Strickland

Advisor

Dianna Tison

Advisor

Barbara Aranda Naranjo

Abstract

Changing demographics and cost containment in health care in caring for the Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patient has given birth to a growing need for respite care workers. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the stress level of a respite care worker who works with an AD patient in a noninstitutionalized setting on a daily basis will be significantly less than that of a family caregiver when caring for an AD patient. The Revised Memory and Behavior Problem Checklist (RMBPC) was the instrument used to measure stress. This is a questionnaire consisting of 24 questions and allows 5 levels of responses for both the frequencies of behaviors of AD patients and the reactions of the caregivers. A total of 25 respite care workers and 25 family caregivers responded to the same questionnaire. The results of the study determined that overall, the stress levels of respite care workers was less than that of family caregivers. However, averaging of the responses to certain questions showed surprising results. The findings of this study conclude that since there is a dearth of research in this area, additional research will be needed to determine what interventions could be instituted to reduce respite care workers' stress in certain areas of AD patient behaviors.

Download

Share

COinS