Caregiver and care recipient health literacy, social support and connectedness on caregiver psychological morbidity: A cross-sectional dyad survey

Self-Efficacy and e-Health Literacy Among Caregivers of Patients With Lung Cancer: The Chain-Mediating Roles of Negative Emotions and Caregiver Readiness

OBJECTIVES

To explore the chain-mediating roles of negative emotions and caregiver readiness between self-efficacy and e-health literacy among caregivers of patients with lung cancer.

BACKGROUND

With the rise of Internet health services, caregivers of patients with lung cancer, who are one of the health decision makers, are encountering new challenges. In order to develop appropriate interventions, it is necessary to explore in depth the various influencing factors associated with them.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey.

METHODS

A total of 293 caregivers of patients with lung cancer were recruited between November 2023 and April 2024 through a convenience sampling method. These participants completed the demographic data questionnaire, General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Caregivers Preparedness Scale (CPS), and eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). Independent samples t-tests and a one-way ANOVA were employed to identify the primary influencing factors. Structural equation modelling was employed to detect the mediating effects of negative emotions and caregiver readiness.

REPORTING METHOD

The STROBE checklist was used for this study.

RESULTS

The total e-health literacy score of caregivers of patients with lung cancer was 29.65 ± 7.11, and there was a correlation between self-efficacy, negative emotions, caregiver readiness, and e-health literacy. The results of the path analysis showed that negative emotions and caregiver readiness had chain-mediating roles between self-efficacy and e-health literacy among caregivers of patients with lung cancer, with the total indirect effect accounting for 31.17% of the total effect.

CONCLUSIONS

Caregivers of patients with lung cancer exhibit moderate levels of e-health literacy. This research suggests that self-efficacy not only has a direct and positive influence on e-health literacy but may also amplify it by mediating the interplay between negative emotions and caregiver readiness.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Healthcare providers should be cognizant of the negative emotions and readiness displayed by family caregivers in the hospital setting to aid them in cultivating strong health literacy for more efficient management of illness care tasks.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Nurses at the hospitals assisted us in collecting data from family caregivers of patients with lung cancer, and the caregivers actively cooperated in completing the questionnaires.

Health Literacy Profiles of Caregivers of Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients

BACKGROUND

Health literacy among caregivers of patients with myocardial infarction is a crucial area that is still not fully addressed in research.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, our aim was to explore the health literacy profiles of caregivers of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was used, involving 121 caregivers of patients with AMI recruited through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a demographics questionnaire and the Health Literacy Questionnaire. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to determine health literacy profiles based on Health Literacy Questionnaire scores and sociodemographic characteristics.

RESULTS

Six distinct clusters of health literacy profiles emerged from the analysis. Caregivers in cluster 1 exhibited the highest health literacy levels, whereas those in cluster 6 had the lowest health literacy scores with significant difficulties in understanding and using health information. Caregivers' sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, smoking status, and education level played a significant role in determining health literacy profiles.

CONCLUSION

The study highlights the diverse health literacy profiles among caregivers of patients with AMI, emphasizing the importance of designing tailored interventions to address these differences to improve the health outcomes of caregivers and patients.

Factors which influence social connection among cancer caregivers: an exploratory, interview study

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Social connectedness is increasingly recognised as influencing health outcomes in cancer caregivers; however, there is little understanding of factors which foster feelings of social connectedness among caregivers when providing care. We sought to examine from the caregivers' perspective, factors which contribute to perceived social connection when providing care to someone with cancer.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 caregivers of people with cancer. Participants were recruited through social media and were eligible if they were aged 18 + years and had provided care to someone with cancer in the preceding 3 years. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo.

RESULTS

Following thematic analysis of interview data, six overarching themes emerged detailing caregivers' experiences with social support, networks, and connectedness. Themes included: people in caregivers' social networks and communication frequency, supportive communication with people in social networks, challenges with talking with others and seeking support, receiving instrumental support from social networks, impact of the carer role on friendships and community activities, and factors which fostered perceived connectedness.

CONCLUSIONS

For caregivers of people with cancer, our qualitative findings suggest the importance of receiving emotional and instrumental support from social networks to cope with, and alleviate the stress and strain of providing care. Development and empirical testing of strategies and interventions that improve social support seeking and subsequently perceived connectedness among caregivers are recommended to improve health and wellbeing.

Factors associated with low health literacy in unpaid caregivers of older people: a systematic review

Health literacy is a public health issue. Unpaid caregivers of older people with low health literacy may have difficulties providing care, exerting a negative impact on the care process. The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic review of the literature on factors associated with low health literacy in unpaid caregivers of older people. Searches for relevant articles were conducted in the Cochrane Library, Embase, LILACS, PubMed and Web of Science databases. A total of 1440 articles were identified, nine of which met the eligibility criteria and were included in the systematic review, which was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024522986). A total of 2209 unpaid caregivers participated in the studies selected for this review. Most were women (67.2%). The average frequency of inadequate health literacy was 27.1%. Sociodemographic characteristics (i.e. advanced age, low educational level, the female sex), factors related to the care process (i.e. low acculturation, low empowerment, poor ability to read medication package inserts, lower care capacity, greater disease severity, hospitalization of care recipients), cognitive factors and factors related to quality of life/well-being (i.e. less social support, poorer quality of life, greater cognitive impairment, higher levels of burden) were associated with low health literacy. In conclusion, low health literacy in unpaid caregivers of older people is associated with sociodemographic, care-related and cognitive factors as well as factors related to quality of life/well-being. Low health literacy may exert a negative impact on the health of caregivers and, consequently, the quality of care provided to older people.

Caregiver health literacy and health task performance: Findings from the LitCog caregiver cohort study

Objective

Many older adults receive assistance in managing their chronic conditions. Yet complicating the utility of caregiver support is whether caregivers have sufficient skills to aid in older adults' health management at home. We examined associations between caregiver health literacy and performance on health tasks.

Methods

Caregivers to older adults enrolled in a cognitive aging cohort were recruited to participate in a supplemental interview (n = 97). Caregivers completed one structured interview that included assessments of health literacy and health task performance.

Results

Caregivers demonstrated a range of health literacy skills (44% adequate, 36% marginal, 20% low health literacy). In adjusted analyses, caregivers with marginal and low health literacy demonstrated worse overall performance on the health tasks, and poorer interpretation of health information presented on print documents and recall of spoken communication (p's < 0.05).

Conclusion

Caregivers with marginal or low health literacy demonstrated poorer performance on everyday health tasks that they commonly assist older adults with. The application of health literacy best-practices to support better training and capacity-building for caregivers is warranted.

Innovation

Few studies have considered the health literacy skills of caregivers and its application to caregivers' abilities to carry out common supportive tasks.