National survey, conducted by Merck with support from the Caring for Informal Caregivers Movement, confirms that 83.3% of informal caregivers admit to having felt burnout/emotional exhaustion at some point
Although more and more is being said about informal caregivers in Portugal, about the importance of the role they play, little has been discussed about its impact on their mental health and well-being. This is what a survey carried out by Merck, with the support of the Caring for Informal Caregivers Movement, wanted to find out - and it concludes that most of these caregivers find themselves in a situation of vulnerability - psychological, emotional, social. In fact, 63.7% find it difficult to be comfortable or relaxed, 47.7% are not able to laugh and/or look on the bright side as they did before, 45.7% often feel anxious/contracted, and 37.4% don't take care of their physical appearance as they should - put 37.4% have lost the will to care.
"Overall, the results of this study are very expressive" confirms Ana Carina Valente, the psychologist responsible for this study and a lecturer at ISPA - University Institute of Psychological, Social and Life Sciences. "These results show that informal caregivers have high levels of psychological distress, low levels of well-being and depressive and anxious symptoms, contributing, in many cases, to the onset of psychopathologies," adds the specialist.
The data from this national survey of more than a thousand informal caregivers reveals that the majority (83.3%) admit to having felt in a state of burnout/emotional exhaustion at some point, with 78.5% agreeing that their state of mental health influences the performance of their role as informal caregiver. "According to the World Health Organization, there is no health without mental health. And, in this sense, we can say that many of the caregivers - by presenting these results in scales that evaluate Anxiety and Depression and their psychological, emotional and social well-being -, from a psychological point of view, are not healthy. And this state, can in some cases, influence the way I 'feel and deal with myself and with others'," confirms Ana Carina Valente.
In all, four out of ten (41.5%) don't believe that the way society works makes sense, with 37.3% also not feeling a sense of belonging to a community. "Feeling alone and without support, hopelessness (hopelessness), physical and emotional exhaustion, translates (in many cases) into psychological distress, causing great impact on the functionality of people, who are also informal caregivers."
The majority (77.9%) of informal caregivers still recognize the need for psychological support, but few actually seek and enjoy this extra support (42.1%), even though many (69.7%) express the desire to have it. The majority (83.9%) of respondents also confirm that a helpline with specialized professionals is something they welcome. "Many times we don't seek psychological support because the National Health Service doesn't give us an effective answer, so the answer we get is often 'private and paid', and not within the reach of all people. An effective psychological support line would certainly make a lot of difference in the lives of many caregivers. This possibility translates, among many things, into the possibility of taking care of myself. Taking care of my mental health," stresses the psychologist.
For the specialist, there's really no doubt: "people who are informal caregivers need support. They need a whole society (a whole state) to welcome them and help them, in order to minimize 'the damage and consequences' that their condition of caregiver 'brought' to their life, to the way they live their life. May we all listen to the caregivers and reflect on these results. May we all do our part. May we create effective responses to help caregivers.
According to Pedro Moura, Merck's General Director, "The Caring for Informal Caregivers Movement conducted a study on informal caregivers in Portugal and concluded that 52.0% of caregivers feel a lack of psychological support, mainly from the State, and that there is a need for more support in this field. With the support of psychologist Ana Carina Valente and the Movement, this new study, which was carried out with the support of the Caring for Informal Caregivers Movement, has taken this issue further and gathered more information on the mental health of informal caregivers and their needs. It is fundamental that society and the State become aware that it is urgent to provide this psychological support."
Study fact sheet
The information for this study was collected by Multidados through online surveys (CAWI), lasting approximately 10 minutes, conducted between November 3, 2022 to January 4, 2023. The study was conducted to 1183 individuals residing in mainland Portugal.
Learn more at https://www.merckgroup.com/pt-pt
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