Caregiver burden (from the perspective of the client with a substance use disorder) and the amount of pleasant activities undertaken

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The importance of informal caregiver (here after: caregiver) is growing. Balancing the burden of care giving and pleasant activities is essential. For better outcomes of addiction treatment, the role of the social network, and therefore of the caregiver, is of great importance. However, people with a substance use disorder (SUD) have a tendency to undertake less pleasant activities than people without a SUD. Unknown is whether the burden experienced by the caregiver, from the perspective of clients with a SUD, has an influence on the number of pleasant activities undertaken together. Aim: To determine the correlation between the experienced burden of the informal caregiver, from the perspective of clients with a SUD, and the amount of pleasant activities undertaken with and without the caregiver. Method: Between February and May 2018, a quantitative survey was conducted, among clients with a SUD. An estimation of the burden experienced by the caregiver was measured with an adjusted Caregiver Reaction Assessment–Dutch and the amount of pleasant activities with the Pleasant Activities List. A total of thirty-one clients participated. Results: No significant relation was found between the estimated burden and the amount of pleasant activities undertaken with (r=0.09, p=0.63) or without the caregiver (r=-0.10, p=0.60). Significant relations were found between the amount of activities with and without the caregiver (r=0.79, p=0.00). No significant relation was found between clients who lived together with the caregiver and the estimated burden (p=0.48). Conclusion: In this study the number of pleasant activities that are undertaken with the caregiver, does not depend on the estimated burden. Recommendations: Recommendations would be to analyse the social system of clients to see if they have a social network and how these social contacts are involved in the lives of the client.