Caregiver burden

Caregiver burden is the stress which is perceived by caregivers due to the home care situation. This subjective burden is one of the most important predictors for negative outcomes of the care situation – for the caregivers themselves as well as for the one who requires care. Caregiver burden is the stress which is perceived by caregivers due to the home care situation. This subjective burden is one of the most important predictors for negative outcomes of the care situation – for the caregivers themselves as well as for the one who requires care. Caregivers are all persons who support and help a person in need of care regularly because of personal – not professional – reasons. That means every kind of help and support. It doesn’t need to be health care in the narrow sense. The caregiver doesn’t need to be akin with the person they support. Often friends, neighbors or acquaintances provide support, too. From a scientific perspective, caregiver burden is a theoretical construct. The conceptual basis for the appraisal of the care situation is the Transactional Model of Lazarus and Folkman.The subjective evaluation of the care situation (stressor) by the caregivers is critical for the development and maintenance of subjective burden. According to the Transactional Model, people deal with stressful situations by appraisals of stressor and resources. The primary appraisal deals with the individual meaning of the specific stressor, which is the care situation in this case. The secondary appraisal analyzes the own abilities and resources to cope with that situation. On this basis, the individual coping efforts are used to deal with the stressful situation. As per Carver, these efforts can focus on problem management or emotional regulation. Dysfunctional strategies are possible, too. Studies found that a high caregiver burden often comes along with dysfunctional strategies what means activities which don’t solve the problem but worsen it (e.g. self-criticism, substance abuse). The (dis)balance between burden/vulnerabilities and resources of the caregiver determines the consequences of a care situation. Home care can result in positive as well as negative experiences. Regardless of the caregiver burden, relatives can experience benefits - positive consequences - of the home care situation. This may be the feeling of being needed or the knowledge that they have acquired new skills etc. Caregiver burden comes out when the caregiver perceives the home care situation as a negative experience. Caregivers are typically not trained. Caring is a serious challenge for them. An intensive adaptiation to the care situation is necessary. The caregiver burden can be based on a variety of aspects of the care situation (e.g. lack of recovery time, challenging behavior of the care requiring person, limitation of social activities and contacts). Studies showed that four aspects are particularly burdensome: Negative outcomes are often not determined by the care situation per se but by the caregiver burden. So the subjective burden is one of the most important predictors of negative outcomes of the home care situation. All types of caregiver inventions should have a positive impact on that burden.