Mental health concerns
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Subclinical stress
- High rates of negative affect including guilt, sadness, dread, worry.
- Ambivalence about care
- Witnessing the suffering of relatives
- Becoming easily irritated or upset
- Feeling isolated or abandoned by others
- Anticipatory grief- Physical health concerns
- Fatigue
- Sleep problems
- Risk of illness, injury, mortality
- Weakened immune system
- Lower self-rated physical health compared to that of others of the same age and sex
- Adverse changes in health status
- Greater health services use and medication use
- Dysregulation of stress hormones - Functional and cognitive impairment
- Greater need for help with IADL assistance (especially among dementia caregivers)
- Difficulty with memory and concentration - Secondary strains
- Work – employment (e.g., reduction in work hours, family to work spillover, and work to family spillover)
- Financial strains
- Relationship stress
- Loss of time for self-care (e.g., sleep, diet, exercise)
- Reduced quality of life - Care decisions
- “When is it time” for various services?
- Residential placement
- End of life care planning - Resources and eligibility for services
- Housing
- Healthcare
- Community services
- Respite - Family challenges
- Conflict about care
- Lack of support for caregiver
- Balancing needs of healthy and sick family members
- Behavioral issues
- Interpersonal conflicts
- Lack of cooperation by care recipient - Advocacy for care
- Interface with service systems
- Coordinating systems
Common Caregiving Problems
Last updated: 2020Date created: 2011