Eureka! Institutional Repository

Greek public hospitals face significant personnel shortages which contribute to the phenomenon of informal caregivers, mainly relatives, remaining close to the patient throughout the period of hospitalization and offering services. This study aimed to investigate the frequency and types of services provided by caregivers to patients with diabetes mellitus, the factors that lead caregivers to stay with their patient, and possible negative outcomes resulting from these services. 210 informal caregivers (74.8% female) participated in the study, recruited from five internal medicine clinics. The main reason caregivers stayed with their patient was their lack of confidence that the patient’s needs would be fully met in their absence. The practice of informal caregiving is allowed and sometimes requested from the hospital personel. The caregivers of DM patients spend more time with their patient and offer more hygiene and nursing services. Those caregivers who spend the night in the hospital, sleep on chairs/ armchairs, eat from the hospital canteen, and wash at the room’s bathroom. Most caregivers said that they faced serious consequences in the family, social, and professional spheres, while a significant percentage were forced to quit their jobs or take long-term leaves of absence. Female caregivers offered significantly more hygiene but not nursing services compared to male. Significantly more in-hospital infections were noted the more services the patients received from informal caregivers. In future, informal caregivers should receive training on proper caregiving practices and ideally limit their overall contribution, although for that to happen more personnel has to be hired across the board.