Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to identify the main factors influencing family functioning of caregivers in families with stroke.
METHOD
A Convenient sample of 173 primary family caregivers who take care of a stroke patient at an Oriental medicine hospital in Jeonbuk. Interviews were done with a standardized questionnaire including family functioning by nurses.
RESULTS
In Pearson's correlation analysis, the influencing factors related to family functioning were ADL(p=.017), level of paralysis(p=.019) as stressors, Quality of relation(p=.000) as situational variables, and family caregivers' burden(p=.000). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed 29.9% of the variance family functioning was significantly accounted for by the quality of relationship between stroke patient and caregiver(26.8%), and caregiver burden(3.1%).
CONCLUSIONS
Findings indicate that families of stroke patients need family-focused nursing intervention as supported care to improve the relationship between patient and primary caregiver and relieve caregiver burden by culturally tailoring to Korean.

• Keywords: Stroke; Family functioning; Relation; Burden