The Psychological Health of Patients and their Caregivers

Abstract

Hip-fracture (HF) patients are among the most vulnerable of hospitalised patients. The associated caregiving rehabilitation task often falls to a member of the patient’s family. Informal caregivers are an important resource for elderly patients suffering from a hip fracture because they play a key role during their recovery. A mutual relationship seems to exist between the patient’s psychological well-being and the caregiver’s burden, so that improvements in the state of health of the one boost that of the other, and vice versa. This datum confirms the importance of using a bio-psycho-social approach when dealing with both patients and caregivers and evaluating the HF patient’s and caregiver’s psychological status. In this chapter, we illustrate why the psychological status of patients and their caregivers is important in the management and outcome of hip fracture, how it should be assessed and how it could be positively influenced by the orthogeriatric team.