Background and Aims Today, 60% to 85% of chronic patients are cared by home caregivers and prolong care causes bitter experiences for the caregivers. This study aimed to assess the burden of care for patients undergoing hemodialysis from the point of family caregivers’ views.
Methods In this qualitative study, we used content analysis approach for data collection and analysis. The study participants were 17 family caregivers selected through purposive sampling method from four medical education centers affiliated to Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The relevant data were collected by quasi-structured interviews.
Results The following categories were emerged from interviews as follow: "care challenges", "the nature of long-term care", and ‘care in the shade". The categories share the main theme of "victim of the situation" experienced by the family caregivers of the patients undergoing hemodialysis.
Conclusion Monitoring the mental status of the caregivers, which reflects their experiences and attitudes is an appropriate tool for assessing the physical, mental, social, and functional aspects of care burden on caregivers and reflects their needs in the care process.