Depressive symptoms and health promotion behaviors of African-American women who are family caregivers of hemodialysis recipients.

Abstract

This study identified the level of depressive symptoms and the health promotion behaviors of 75 African-American women who are family caregivers of hemodialysis recipients. Caregivers' scores, on average, reflected no depressive symptoms (0 to 15). However, three caregivers (4.0%) had scores reflecting severe distress. Depressive symptoms can influence how individuals perceive the world and self, therefore, an intervention to decrease or manage depressive symptoms would be useful for this population. Other interventions should focus on health promotion strategies to help caregivers maintain or achieve optimal health. Interventions should focus on assessing caregivers'perceptions of their health status and developing specific interventions that help the caregiver to decrease depressive symptoms and anxiety levels, and improve health promotion strategies.