智能障礙者雙老家庭之照顧者憂鬱情形及相關因素探討

A Review of Factors Associated with Anxiety and Depression in Aging Family Caregivers of Aging Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

智能障礙者由於智力的限制，通常較無法明確的表達自身健康狀況與相關問題，也難以獨立主動獲得醫療服務及資源，他們在社會中屬於比較弱勢的一群，因此需要主要照顧者來協助其日常生活、維持身體健康，但長期的照顧壓力與負擔，容易對照顧者的心理健康產生影響，甚至造成憂鬱與心理疾病。當智能障礙者開始出現老化的狀況時，其主要照顧者通常也進入老化的階段，因此這種被照顧者與照顧者雙重進入老化狀況的家庭稱作「雙老家庭」，照顧者在面臨老化的同時，除了需面對自身的老化問題、仍需肩負起照顧個案的責任，如此現象使雙老家庭在未來的照顧階段更顯艱難。本文期能透過相關文獻探討，找出影響雙老家庭照顧者之憂鬱相關因素，進而提出改善的建議與方案。

Aging people with intellectual disabilities is one of the most vulnerable populations in the society. They cannot express their health status and problems clearly and difficult to obtain medical services and resources actively. Therefore, the caregivers play a vital role in supporting their daily lives and maintaining the wellbeing for people with intellectual disabilities. Previous studies have demonstrated the caregiver’s experienced long-term stress and burden in caring for people with intellectual disabilities. As life expectancy increasing in people with intellectual disabilities, their families’ caregivers are also entering the stage of aging too. The onset of age-related changes and age-related medical conditions may occur earlier in people with intellectual disabilities. The aging family caregivers not only have to face the problem of their own aging, but also need to take care of their aging children with intellectual disabilities. The issue of double strains of aging in both caregivers and people with intellectual disabilities needed to pay much attention in public health policy. This paper aims to understand the factors which associated with anxiety and depression in aging family’s caregivers of adults with intellectual disabilities based on current literature reviews, and try to provide support to families who are experiencing these aging problems for improving productive and meaningful lives of these families.