Availability and Burden of Family Caregivers in Caring for a Recurrent Stroke Survivor in the Community During a Pandemic

Abstract

Family caregivers significantly influence the ability of stroke survivors to thrive in the community despite their disability. Recently, family caregivers have been faced with the challenges of fulfilling their domestic duties while acting as the coordinators of medical and nursing care for their patients. Caring for a family member with disability is a challenging task that may even be magnified by the presence of calamities and state emergencies. This paper examined the burdens and challenges experienced by family caregivers during the COVID-19 threat. This research utilized an illustrative case study approach, which typically focuses on one or two instances of an event to illustrate a phenomenon while highlighting the contextual elements of the case. It was discovered that the emergence of a highly contagious and deadly virus required a major adjustment in the lives of family caregivers caring for family members with disabilities, especially in communities where local transmission is rampant. Despite having local policies that have been set in place to prevent the continuing transmission of new COVID-19 infections, these restrictions highly affected the way of life in the communities and accentuated the lack of community resources for medical emergencies.