Caring for persons with severe burns injury: Analysis of caregivers' coping strategies and quality of life

Abstract

Living with severe burns injury poses both psychological and physical threats to both patients and caregivers. However, the focus of attention has always been on the patients with little attention given to the caregivers who play significant roles in the recovery process. This study examined the association between coping strategies and quality of life of caregivers of persons with severe burns injury. A total of 100 caregivers were randomly sampled from the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and were administered with the Brief Cope and the WHOQOL Brief. A cross-sectional study design was used. Results from the analysis showed that only three coping strategies, denial, religion, and behavioural disengagement predicted overall quality of life among the caregivers. Some of the caregiver's coping strategies also significantly predicted the domain specific quality of life of the caregivers. It is therefore concluded that caregivers use varied coping strategies which affect their quality of life and must therefore be taken into consideration in planning psychosocial interventions for the care givers.