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Family caregiving of persons living with HIV/AIDS in Thailand: caregiver burden, an outcome measure.

Vithayachockitikhun N

Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4904, USA. nxv15@case.edu

The present paper provides an initial picture of HIV/AIDS-affected families. It is evident that families play a major role of support for HIV/AIDS patients in Thai society. Caregiver burden is one of the patient-related outcomes, which is the most common outcome measure in caregiver research. The demands on the family caregivers of these patients are enormous and need to be addressed. The determinants that are associated with caregiver burden such as caregiver characteristics, patient characteristics and social stigma are important for nurses to minimize the burden of care so that appropriate interventions can be developed for persons with HIV/AIDS and family members who share the work of managing their care at home.

Published 5 May 2006 in Int J Nurs Pract, 12(3): 123-8.
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