TITLE:
Prevalence of Burnout among Professionals Who Care for Elderly and Chronically Ill Patients
AUTHORS:
Carla Susana Vicente, Rui Aragão Oliveira, João Maroco
KEYWORDS:
Burnout Syndrome, Emotional Exhaustion, Social Work, Health Care Professionals, Geriatric
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.5 No.17,
November
24,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence
of Burnout Syndrome among professionals who care for elderly and chronically
ill patients and the relationship between the appearance of Burnout and
sociodemographic and job related variables. The sample consisted of 265
employees who worked directly with the elderly and chronically ill. It was
composed mostly of women, 94.3%. The average age was 43 (SD = 10.2). We made
use of the following instruments: a sociodemographic questionnaire and the
Maslach Burnout Inventory—HSS (Semedo, 2009). The results
show that 19.6% of participants have high rates of emotional exhaustion, 4.9%
present high depersonalization, and 2.6% experience low personal accomplishment.
Disease severity and support services influence personal accomplishment. Age
proved to be a predictor of the emotional exhaustion variable, while the length
of service at an institution variable not only proved to be a predictor of
emotional exhaustion, but also of personal accomplishment. The prevention of
Burnout Syndrome constitutes one of the major challenges for occupational
health care providers to the elderly and chronically ill.