Un outil d'autoévaluation des émotions douloureuses pour mieux accompagner les proches aidants.

Cet article présente l'outil d'autoévaluation des émotions douloureuses (EED), un outil quantitatif et qualitatif conçu pour accompagner le proche dans le cadre du programme Ensemble qui propose des interventions personnalisées. L'EED comporte une partie de cotation de la fréquence des émotions douloureuses et de l'urgence du besoin d'aide vis-à-vis de celles-ci, suivie d'un échange pour définir les actions cliniques. Des données ont été collectées auprès de 73 proches de patients atteints de troubles psychiatriques. Les données démographiques, les scores de l'EED et les scores de l'inventaire bref des symptômes (Brief Symptom Inventory , BSI) sont collectés lors d'entretiens avec les intervenants du programme Ensemble. L'Impuissance et l'Anxiété sont des émotions particulièrement préoccupantes pour les proches aidants. Les analyses de validité montrent que la fréquence du ressenti des émotions douloureuses est un indice significatif de la détresse psychologique des proches aidants. Les scores obtenus avec l'EED peuvent orienter le suivi proposé par l'intervenant. Les bonnes propriétés psychométriques de l'EED et son utilisation simple en font un outil rapide à administrer et bien adapté à l'accompagnement sur mesure des proches aidants. Informal caregivers take on a variety of tasks to help their ill loved ones. Despite the personal and professional resources available, their health is sometimes impacted, and they may suffer from sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, and psychological distress. Supporting informal caregivers to prevent the risk of exhaustion entails a recognition of distressful emotions that can be associated with the role of caregiver. This article presents the Distressing Emotions Evaluation (DEE) tool, a quantitative and qualitative tool designed to support informal caregivers in the context of the Ensembl e program which proposes tailored and individualized interventions. Ensemble is independent of the patient's treatment and follow-up and its objective is to offer individual support to informal caregivers. It is structured in three phases spread over five one-hour sessions: an evaluation phase, followed by a support phase and finally an assessment phase. During the first phase, a professional trained in Ensemble 's methods assesses the needs, difficulties, painful emotions, and social resources of the informal caregiver. The DEE includes a rating scale, assessing the frequency of distressing emotions and the urgency of the need for help with dealing with them, followed by a dialogue to identify clinical actions. To assess the psychometric properties of the DEE, data were collected from 73 informal caregivers of patients with psychiatric disorders. The DEE tool consists of an inventory of cards illustrating eight distressful emotions: anxiety, anger, confusion, guilt, helplessness, feeling judged by others, loneliness, and sadness/distress. Demographic data, DEE scores, and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) scores were collected during interviews with Ensemble practitioners. Helplessness and anxiety are particularly distressing emotions for informal caregivers. Indeed, they are among the most frequently reported emotions (present for 88 % and 71 % of the participants, respectively), and are the emotions for which unmet need for help is the most urgent (in 49 % and 40 % of the participants, respectively). Validity analyses with reference to associations with BSI scores show that the frequency of experiencing distressing emotions is a significant indicator of the psychological distress of informal caregivers. DEE scores can inform a practitioner's follow-up, e.g., with tools for managing emotions. The positive psychometric properties of the DEE, and its simple use based on illustrated card sorting which facilitates verbalization, make it a tool that is readily administered and well suited to the personalized support of informal caregivers. Based on the EED tool, the results demonstrated that helplessness and anxiety are very frequent painful emotions for informal caregivers and that there is a need for help that is not currently met by existing support services. The engaging clinical EED tool makes it easier to work with informal caregivers. This approach can be used to increase health literacy in personalized interventions focused on the recovery paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]