台灣中部地區居家失能老人家庭照顧品質之探討

Quality of Family Caregiving of Frail Elders in Central Taiwan

本研究之目的在探討台灣中部地區居家失能老人家庭照顧品質現況及其相關影響因素。本研究為橫斷式研究，由中部地區11所醫院所收案的居家失能老人進行立意取樣，以結構式問卷調查收集資料，共訪得164對60歲以上之失能老人與其主要照顧者。家庭照顧品質以Phillips的QUALCARE量表測量，並與相關因素進行統計檢定分析。研究結果顯示本研究樣本家庭照顧品質平均值為3.68，影響家庭照顧品質的最主要因素是「失能老人日常生活功能程度」、「失能老人教育程度」、「是否僱人協助照顧」、「照顧者自覺與失能老人現在之關係」與「尋找平衡點」等變項。由本研究結論:QUALCARE量表可協助居家護理人員發現居家失能老人照顧品質的具體問題，建議適當簡化及本土化該量表並例行用於居家護理評估參考。護理人員可以透過過程因素的改變，進一步改善家庭照顧品質。

The aim of this study was to determine the level and related factors of the quality of family caregiving for frail elders receiving home nursing services in central Taiwan. One hundred and sixty four frail elders and their caregiver recruited from 11 teaching hospitals in Taichung were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. QUALCARE Scale developed by Phillips was used to assess the quality of family caregiving and the factors related to QUALCARE were tested. The mean of QUALCARE Scale was 3.68. The important predictors of family caregiving quality were "self-preceived relationship with the frail elderly", "finding a balance point", "educational level of the elderly", "hired worker for caregiving", and "ability of the elderer's daily activities". The study concluded that QUALCARE could help identify specific problems regarding the quality of family caregiving. A modified short version of QUALCARE could be circulated to the home-healthcare nurses for routine use. Through the nursing interventions of process factors the quality of family caregiving offrail elderly will in the long run improve.