Coping Strategies of Family Members Living with Hemodialysis Patients
Abstract
This study determined the coping strategies utilized by family members living with hemodialysis patients. It tackled the coping strategies used by the family members along with the physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and psychosocial aspects. There were 67 respondents from a secondary hospital in the Eastern Pangasinan Hemodialysis Unit who took care of their family members undergoing hemodialysis. A survey questionnaire was used as the primary gathering tool. A descriptive quantitative correlational research method was used to determine the significant relationship between the profile variables and the coping strategies used by the respondents. Convenient sampling in collecting the information needed for the study was utilized. Frequency counts and percentages, weighted mean, and the Cramer's V value of association were used as the statistical treatments of the data. The respondents were young adults aged 20 to 34, females, single, with a monthly income of 10 to 20 thousand pesos, and college undergraduates. A significant relationship existed between age and psychosocial coping, gender, and emotional coping. Furthermore, there is an essential relationship between educational attainment on the financial aspect and the number of years handling hemodialysis patients on the economic and psychosocial aspects. Using coping mechanisms such as taking vitamins and other nutritional supplements, talking about feelings with friends and family, remaining faithful to God, setting priorities for the budget, and taking on the duty of caring for the afflicted family member were all employed. Implementing the proposed measures in strengthening the coping strategies can be beneficial to enhancing the coping strategies of the respondents and creating awareness of CKD. The proposed measures aim to incorporate unconscious habits that can prevent people from feeling stressed and decrease the amount of tension perceived and experienced by the respondents.
