Causes and Consequences of Burnout in Caregivers: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Caring for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) is hard, energy-consuming, and long-term, and can lead to caregivers’ burnout. The present study aimed to identify reasons for and consequences of occupational burnout among caregivers working in institutes for children with CP in an Iranian context.

The present study was carried out using qualitative approach and content analysis methodology. Nine caregivers, two managers, and one physiotherapist participated in the study. Purposive sampling method was used to select participants and in depth, semi-structure interviews were used to collect the data. All interviews were conducted in institutes. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and overviewed. Constant comparative analyses were used to analyze the interviews.

A total of 623 initial codes were extracted from the interviews. Then, the codes were categorized into three main categories and nine sub-categories. The main categories were as follows: care-related stress, nature of caring occupation, and managerial and organizational challenges and shortcomings.

Identifying the barriers and challenges can lead to betterment of managers’ knowledge and, consequently, adoption of more proper organizational policies to increase the quality of caring services in the institutes.