Help seeking Behaviors among Family Caregivers of Mentally Ill Patients at a Hospital of Pokhara.

Abstract

Introduction: Family caregivers are critical pillars of support for their suffering loved ones in the field of mental health care. This investigation looks into the factors driving these caregivers’ help-seeking behaviors, offering light on the complications they encounter. Theobjective of this study is to assess the help seeking behaviors among the family caregivers of mentally ill patients.

Methos: A cross-sectional descriptive method was employed in this study. Purposive sampling technique was used. A total of 114 family caregivers were chosen as sample. Self-developed, semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess help seeking behavior. The collected data was entered in Epi data version 3.1 and was exported to SPSS for analysis. Descriptive data was analyzed by using mean, frequency, and percentage as well as inferential statistic (chi square test) was used for identifying association.

Result: The finding of this study showed that out of a total of 114 family caregivers,66 and 48 subjects in the low and high help‑seeking groups, respectively. There was significant association between family income and help seeking behavior (p value = 0.003). Common first carers were psychiatrists (34.2%) and general hospitals (34.2%), followed by medical practitioners (17.5%) and (13.2%) had their first contact with traditional healers.

Conclusion: This study shows that more than half of the family caregivers had low help seeking behavior. And it is still quite usual for mentally ill patients to make their first encounter with a traditional healer.