THE SILENT STRAIN: FINANCIAL, EMOTIONAL & SOCIAL BURDEN OF HEART DISEASE ON FAMILIES IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Heart diseases are a high burden public health problem in Pakistan and affect the families especially with low income and in rural population. The general objective of qualitative exploratory study was to assess financial, emotional & social impact of heart disease on families of Punjab, Pakistan. The study was conducted at Nawaz Sharif Cardiology Center, Sargodha, the purposive sampling method was used to select the 15 family caregivers of heart disease patients. Data were gathered in Urdu and Punjabi using semi-structured interviews, analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis method. Five major themes emerged from the findings: financial burden, emotional stress, social isolation, role strain of caregivers & coping with policies. The cost of treatment, such as medicines, hospital visits, lost income, transportation, debt and use of limited government health schemes were reported high by families. Emotional stress encompassed anxiety, fear of recurrence of disease, depression, sleep disturbances and worries about patient health. There was also a high level of role strain among caregivers because of their multiple roles in patient care and in their home. The study finds that heart disease is a multidimensional burden on the family, and therefore, there is need for integrated financial, emotional & social support systems in Pakistan.