Experiences of informal family caregivers of the aged in Kesses sub county, Uasin gishu County-Kenya

Abstract

Demographic trends show an increase in the elderly population globally. According to the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census there were 1.3 million people who were above 65 years of age and this is expected to increase significantly by 2030 due to improved health care and nutrition. This implies that more and more old people will require increased assistance from informal family caregivers. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of informal family caregivers of the elderly in Kipchamoo, Kesses and Cheptiret locations of Kesses Constituency in Uasin-Gishu County. The objectives of the study were: to document the characteristics of caregivers; to describe the types of caregiver-support given to the elderly; to evaluate the caregivers gained experiences and to asses caregivers coping strategies. The Exchange theory, propounded by Homans (1961) guided the study. The theory proposes that, social behavior is the result of an exchange process. Descriptive phenomenological research design was used to study the lived experiences of informal family caregivers. Snowball sampling technique was used to select 40 informal family caregiver participants. Caregivers who were eligible for inclusion in the study were aged 18 years and above looking after older persons aged 65 years and above in a home environment. Data was collected using semi structured interviews developed to capture the characteristics and lived experiences of informal family caregivers. Trustworthiness of the data was established through credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Data was analyzed based on the themes and presented through verbatim or direct quotations. Tables were used to present summarized responses on characteristics of caregivers, types of care-giver support and caregiver gained experiences. Caregivers were aged 41years on average with majority having 36 years and above. More females than males provided informal caregiving with most of them married. Major types of support provided by informal caregivers included: Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), emotional and financial support. The major caregivers gained experiences were life skills, life cycles, wisdom blessings and negative impacts on their daily lives. Finally, the coping strategies adopted by caregivers to protect themselves from harmful stress of caregiving work included: sharing of responsibility among family members; proper planning; obtaining available assistance from neighbours and friends and going to church for moral support and spiritual nourishment. It is recommended that the government: should assist in training of family caregivers to build capacity and develop support programmes to address negative impacts of caregiving, and formally acknowledge the unique role of informal family caregivers through public policy pronouncements.