Interactions between caregivers and their close ones: psychological wellbeing and willingness to care

Informal caregivers are individuals who provide care to a loved one with a health challenge such as an ageing parent or other family member with a disease that causes disabilities (i.e., a care recipient). Caregivers are in constant interaction with the care recipient. However, we still know surprisingly little about how caregivers and care recipients communicate within each other. Thus, this project aimed to explore how caregivers experience their interactions with their loved ones. Our research focused on different caregivers in terms of their relationship to the care recipient (e.g., spousal caregivers, adult children caring for older parents, caregivers of siblings, friends) and caregiving contexts (e.g., health conditions of care recipients, care tasks and intensity of care). Overall, results confirmed the crucial role of the interactions between caregivers and care recipients for the wellbeing of caregivers and their willingness to provide care. We found that caregivers who are well supported by a larger network of family and friends not only have higher wellbeing themselves, but this also benefits the care recipient. Caregivers need to be supported and acknowledged not only by their social environment (e.g., other family members and friends), but also by their care recipients. Our findings showed that caregivers feel closer to the care recipient, less burdened and more willing to care if they have supportive and collaborative interactions with the care recipient. These findings provide suggestions for psychological interventions for caregivers to promote their wellbeing and willingness to care by considering their interactions with their care recipients.