Experience of Burden of Care and Support Needs of Informal Caregivers of Persons With Severe Mental Disorders in Rural South Africa: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Severe mental disorders are chronic and disabling conditions marked by serious functional impairments. As a result, persons with severe mental disorders require long‐term care from their family, relatives, or friends. Providing care is accompanied by negative experiences that result in distress for the caregivers, and as such, they require support to cope with their caregiving responsibilities. This study was aimed at exploring the experiences and support needs of informal caregivers caring for persons with severe mental disorders in rural South Africa. A descriptive qualitative approach was used to explore the experiences and support needs of the informal caregivers. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 informal caregivers who were purposely selected to participate between January and June 2022. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The themes presented in this paper are caregivers’ experience of burden in the caregiving role and caregivers’ expressed support needs. The informal caregivers reported burdens related to dealing with the chronic and disabling nature of severe mental disorders, role and financial strain, and stigmatisation from family and community. Support needs include access to mental health services, empowerment, and social support from family, government, and religious and community organisations. The findings highlight the complexity of caregiver burden experienced by informal caregivers of persons with severe mental disorders, which calls for multisectoral collaboration in the planning and development of support services for informal caregivers, particularly in sub‐Saharan Africa where access to community mental health services is limited.