Caregiving Burden and Hope Among Caregivers of Patients with Epilepsy

The present study is an attempt to study the caregiver burden and level of hope among the primary caregivers of the patients diagnosed with epilepsy for more than one year. Study was exploratory in nature. A sample of 30 primary caregivers of patients with epilepsy was selected. Both males and females between age ranges of 25 to 55 years were selected from neurology OPD of IHBAS, Delhi by using purposive sampling technique. Zarit Burden Interview and Adult Hope Scale were administered on the participants to study their caregiver burden and levels of hope. All participants were psycho-educated about their family members' illness. Results showed that caregivers had poor perceived social support and mostly they were experiencing moderate to severe levels of care giving burden and average levels of hope. Results are discussed in the light of the need of such studies which can professionally help caregivers to deal with their physical, mental and social problems and thereby also help patients with epilepsy in many ways.