Venera Telzhan

The present work addresses the question of psychological distress of the caregivers of patients with dementia. The research covers caregivers residing in Russia and Kazakhstan. The thesis starts with concluding the pre-existing knowledge on the research question, from which the author develops the methods for collection of the primary data. Methodology of the research is designed to analyze the data in a qualitative approach. The thesis builds an understanding of the state of psychological distress in which caregivers of Kazakhstan and Russia live in. To do that, the author conducted a survey with range of multiple choice and open questions that examined the stress triggers and proof of the existence of stress in their lives based on answers. A total of 52 active caregivers answered to a survey consisting of 22 questions. The results show that Russian and Kazakhstani caregivers experience moderate to severe levels of psychological distress due to insufficient funding and informational support, among other reasons.

Keywords : psychological distress, dementia, caregiver, caregiver burden

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