Pengalaman keluarga menjaga pesakit mental: Satu kajian perbandingan komuniti bandar dan luar bandar di Perak dan Kedah (Family experience with caregiving to mental patients: A comparative study of rural and urban communities in Perak and Kedah, Malaysia)

Abstract

Penjagaan pesakit mental dalam komuniti bukan sesuatu yang mudah dan memerlukan sokongan keluarga bagi melaksanakan tanggungjawab berkenaan di rumah. Kajian ini membanding pengalaman penjaga keluarga menjaga pesakit mental dalam komuniti bandar dan komuniti luar bandar. Penjaga keluarga adalah terdiri daripada ibu bapa, adik beradik, pasangan suami atau isteri kepada pesakit mental yang sedang menerima perkhidmatan kesihatan mental di klinik kesihatan komuniti. Seramai 154 orang penjaga keluarga telah direkrut dalam kajian ini dengan diberikan borang kaji selidik mengenai Inventori Pengalaman Penjagaan (ECI). Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa majoriti penjaga dalam keluarga tidak kira sama ada di bandar mahu pun luar bandar adalah wanita Melayu yang sudah berkahwin dan majoriti berpendidikan sekolah rendah serta tidak bekerja. Berdasarkan skor ECI menunjukkan bahawa penjaga di bandar lebih mempunyai pengalaman positif dalam menjaga pesakit mental di rumah. Manakala penjaga di luar bandar dilihat mempunyai pengalaman yang lebih negatif dalam peranan penjagaannya kerana stigma sosial, simptom-simptom negatif yang ditunjukkan oleh pesakit dan memikirkan kesan penjagaan ke atas ahli keluarga lain. Hasil kajian memberikan implikasi bahawa pihak kerajaan dan badan bukan kerajaan perlu meningkatkan perkhidmatan kesihatan mental di kawasan luar bandar supaya semua penjaga mempunyai akses dan sokongan sosial dalam menjaga pesakit mental di rumah.

Katakunci: bandar, keluarga, luar bandar, penjaga, penjagaan, pesakit mental

Caregiving for a mental patient is not easy to say the least and requires support from the family to carry out this responsibility at home. A comparative study was conducted in Malaysia’s urban and rural communities to examine the family caregivers’ experiences of care giving to a mentally ill person. A total of 154 family caregivers were recruited in this study and given a survey form on Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI). Caregivers were parents, siblings, spouses of schizophrenic patients who had experienced of community mental care services in the community clinic.The results showed that the majority of family caregivers were Malay women who were married, mostly with primary school education, and unemployed. The ECI’s scores indicated that caregivers in the urban area had more positive experiences in their caregiving roles for mental patients at their homes. In contrast , caregivers in the rural area had undergone more negative experiences in their caregiving roles mainly because of social stigma, patient’s negative symptoms and the effects of caregiving on other family members. The Malaysian government and NGOs need to improve their mental health services in rural areas so that all caregivers have access to social support in taking care of mental patients at their homes.

Keywords: caregiver, caregiving, family care-givers, mental patients, rural family, urban family