Caregiving Case Study

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Emotions as outcomes: Impact of the caregiving role on emotional well being This section will discuss the impact of caregiving for the caregivers. Most of the studies exploring the impact of caregiving focus on the negative outcomes associated with providing care (Colgrove, Kim, & Thompson, 2007; Nijober et al., 2000). The responsibility to fulfill several roles in addition to caregiving can result in greater emotional or psychological distress experienced by the caregiver. Informal caregivers have to cope with physical, psychological and social stressors that negatively affect their health conditions and quality of life. Compared to the general population, caregivers report worse physical and mental health, they report increased levels…show more content…
The study used British Household Panel Survey data from 1991-2000 and they tracked individuals as they entered and left caregiving, recording their distress levels at regular intervals. The study resulted in a several interesting findings. First of all, the study revealed an association between intensity of caregiving per week and psychological distress. Caregivers engaging in caregiving for more than 20 hours per week were at twice the risk of psychological distress as non-caregivers. This effect was more prominent among women caregivers. Secondly, caregivers in the intense caregiving group had a higher prevalence of distress in the year prior to becoming a caregiver and this effect was the same for both genders. This finding is important because it suggests that adopting the caregiving role may not be a discrete event. In addition, the study revealed that distress seemed to increase over the first year of caregiving, remain stable afterwards, indicating an adjustment to the caregiving role. In this study, chronic stress was experienced only from a minority of caregivers and that was due to their increased caregiving…show more content…
A study by Kim and Given (2008) found that women were more likely to adopt the caregiving role and tend to be more emotionally expressive than men. Carlson et al. (2000) found that male caregivers of wives with breast cancer experienced uncertainty, and indecisiveness about treatment options. Male partners also experienced tension, decreased work performance and job satisfaction. Lopez et al. (2012) reported that male caregivers of patients with cancer experienced varying degrees of interrelated cognitive, physical and psychological distress that extended over a period of one year. A recent review identified that female spousal caregivers for cancer patients had higher levels of negative emotional experiences in caregiving (Li, Mak, & Loke,

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