Abstract 11907: Who Cares for the Caregiver? Heart Failure Caregiver Self-care

Introduction:As more heart failure (HF) patients are being cared for in community settings by informal caregivers, maintaining optimal caregiver well-being is vital. Yet, little is known about caregivers? personal self-care (SC) or the relation between SC and caregiver outcomes.Purpose:To identify differences in subgroups of HF caregivers at risk for poor SC and to examine the relation among caregiver SC and perceived caregiver burden, depression, and life changes related to caregiving in HF caregivers.Methods:Using a cross-sectional, correlational design, 530 HF caregivers completed a series of online surveys, including the Denyes Self-Care Practice Instrument, the Dutch Objective Burden Inventory, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, the Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale, the Social Problem-Solving Inventory Revised, the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, and the Family Apgar. HF caregivers were mostly Caucasian (78.3%) men (50.9%) age 41.39 (? 10.38) years and caring for a spouse with HF (44.9%). A three-step latent class mixture model was used to identify subgroups of HF caregivers and to examine differences in SC between groups adjusted for years since patient HF diagnosis, comorbidities, and NYHA HF Class. Spearman?s correlational analysis was used to examine the relation among caregiver SC and caregiver outcomes.Results:Three classes of HF caregivers were identified (High Risk, Moderate Risk, Low Risk). Caregivers in the low risk class were slightly younger, mostly male with the highest levels of problem solving, social support, and family functioning. The high risk class was the most racially diverse with the lowest problem-solving, social support, and family functioning. SC was lower for the high risk class compared to the moderate (95% CI -27.92, -18.39) and low (95% CI -20.45, -16.76) risk classes. Better SC was significantly related to lower perceived caregiver burden, less depression, and more positive life changes related to caregiving.Conclusions:Caregiver SC may be an important factor in caregiver and patient outcomes. These results suggest a need for individualized approaches to enhancing SC in HF caregivers that target problem-solving, social support, and family functioning.