Page 64 - JOURNAL OF HEALTH MANAGEMENT SUPPLEMENT: SEPTEMBER 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021, SUPPLEMENT, JOURNAL OF HEALTH MANAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER 2021, SUPPLEMENT, JOURNAL OF HEALTH MANAGEMENT
e-­‐poster
BM108 e-­‐Poster
PH008
Abstract Category: Biomedical Science
Abstract Category: Public Health
Islamic Fasting Approach on Weight Loss Intervention – Experience Through the Lens of Participants
2
1
2
2
2
Johari, M. Z. , Sulaiman, N. S. , Abdullah, S. R. , Khalil, M. K. N. , Wan Mohd Zin, R. M. , Mohd Yunus, S.
B40 Informal Caregivers: Who Are They?
1
1
1
2
N. N. , Kamaruddin, H. , Norshamsul, N. I. , Azizul, N. H.
1
1
1
2
Jailani, A. S. , Kong, Y. L. , Jawahir, S. , Sararaks, S.
1 Centre for Health Communications and Informatics Research, Institute for Health Behaviour Research, National
1
Centre for Health
Institutes of Health Outcomes Research, Institute for Health Systems Research, National Institutes of Health
22 Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, National Institutes of
Centre for Health Equity Research, Institute for Health Systems Research, National Institutes of Health
Health
Introduction
Introduction
Informal caregiving, typically unpaid care provided to dependent persons by a person with whom
Weight loss is a natural process of weight management in life but the process and effectiveness varies
they have a social relationship, can be very challenging and tiring, especially for caregivers who are
from individual to individual. This study attempts to assess the effectiveness of an Islamic approach of
not health care professionals. Providing informal care may reduce these individuals’ capacity to earn
the sunnah fasting (Mondays and Thursday) combined with healthy plating as part of a weight loss
an income, and this adds to their burden if they are already in the lower income strata. This paper
intervention through the views of the participants.
aimed to describe the characteristics of informal caregivers in bottom 40% of the population income
group (B40).
Method
This qualitative study takes on exploratory approach in obtaining feedback from selected participants
Methods
of the intervention. Four groups of participants (two successful and two unsuccessful) were invited in
This study used data from the National Health Morbidity Survey 2019 (NHMS 2019), a nationwide
separate Focus Group Discussions (FGD) to give their experiential feedback after completing the
survey. The B40 group is defined based on Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) definition.
intervention. FGDs were recorded verbatim and transcribed. Data was blind and axial coded before
Descriptive analysis was performed using STATA version 12, with survey weights applied. A total of
thematically analyzed.
636 respondents who provided informal care were included in the analysis.
Result
Results
In total 21 participants were interviewed. Four themes emerged -­‐ efficacy towards intervention,
Overall, 73.1% (95% CI: 67.6-­‐77.9) caregivers in the country were in the B40 group. Amongst the B40
barriers and facilitators to success, support and sustainability. Participants who were success attributed
caregivers, the majority were females (61.0%; 95% CI: 55.8-­‐65.9), married (60.2%; 95% CI: 53.7-­‐
having a strong support system at home or at work and the sense of competitiveness as the main key
66.4), residing in urban locality (68.9%; 95% CI: 63.3-­‐74.0) and in the age group of 35-­‐59 years old
to who were successful. Similarly, the same attributes are also the reason to those who did not
(44.5%; 95% CI: 38.5-­‐50.8). Of these B40 informal caregivers, 54.2% (95% CI: 48.6-­‐59.8) did not work
succeed in losing the prescribed weight. Most suffered difficulty of at least one month to adapt to the
while 33.7% (95% CI: 28.0-­‐39.9) did not receive any assistance from other family members. More
intervention. Sporadically in both groups stated the intervention is sustainable for a long period.
than a third of B40 informal caregivers were affected in either health,
Individual motivation plays a strong role in the success or failure in weight loss. daily or social activities
(37.1%; 95% CI: 31.5-­‐43.1), and a majority reported that they were not trained to provide informal
Discussion
care (79.2%; 95% CI: 73.8-­‐83.7).
Islamic fasting is perceived to be a viable intervention to weight loss and its success is driven both by
individual motivation and a strong support system to be sustainable.
Discussion
About 7 in 10 caregivers in Malaysia were in B40 group, which were predominantly females, married
Keywords: weight loss, Islamic fasting, qualitative, effectiveness, sustainability
and residing in urban area. These findings could help policy makers in formulating support systems
to alleviate the B40 informal caregivers’ burden in Malaysia and indirectly contribute to improving
their health and well-­‐being.

Keywords: Caregivers; Health surveys; Informal care; Malaysia; Population health

140 | Page

63 | Page
63 | Page