A Thematic Review on the African Perspective on Caregiver Experiences

Abstract

Caring for patients with mental disorders brings many challenges for informal/unpaid carers, especially relatives. This article provides a brief overview of the literature on caregivers’ experiences in caring for a relative with mental illness. The areas identified and discussed that may impact the caregivers include gender and caregiver burden, patriarchy, gender differences in caregiving, economic factors and policy frameworks in caregiving in different African countries. The following databases were searched to identify studies for the literature review: Google Scholar, Medline, Pub Med and HINARI. Studies eligible for inclusion were all those published in English about caregiving in Africa among families of individuals with mental illness. Family caregivers were found to be primarily females who experience the burden of caregiving. The study concludes that the socioeconomic factors hurt the caregiving process, with consequential negative health outcomes for family caregivers.