ESR3: Diversity of experiences in caregiver-care recipient dyads

Objectives: To investigate which characteristics of dyads and interactions within dyads stimulate or decrease the willingness to care in care providers

The caregiving situation inherently includes at least two persons, that is, the caregiver and the care recipient. However, surprisingly little caregiving research has included the perspectives of both members and studied interactions within dyads, especially in relation to willingness to care and possible consequences of willingness for both caregivers and care recipients. Interactions within dyads, and discrepancies between caregiver and care-recipient beliefs and needs, are relevant processes to intervene upon (e.g., through face-to-face counselling, eHealth or assistive technology, or policy change). For example, what happens if caregivers and care-recipients have incompatible needs or wishes concerning (informal) care? What kind of support might help in this situation? Which interactions between caregivers and care recipients promote or deteriorate their relationship and the caregivers’ willingness to care (e.g., recipient showing gratitude for help, the carer demanding the care-recipient to take medication, shared emotional intimacy)? Negative relationship experiences (e.g., trust issues, low levels of intimacy, poor communication) and caregiver burden may put stress on the caregiving relationship and erode the willingness to care. The identification of these processes could improve support to caregivers and care recipients. The aim of this project is to study how this relates to other outcomes for caregivers and care recipients (e.g., emotional wellbeing, daily functioning, social participation, quality of care), taking into account diversity (different dyads, e.g., adult children- parents, spouse dyads; care systems). The ESR will address these issues, by receiving in-depth training on the topic, carrying out a systematic literature review, and collecting qualitative and quantitative data (ENTWINE-iCohort) allowing him/her to analyse this phenomenon in-depth.

Expected Results

The research will provide detailed information about which characteristics of dyads and interactions within dyads that stimulate or reduce the willingness to care in caregivers, and how this relates to other outcomes for caregivers and care recipients. The ENTWINE-iCohort study will provide a detailed insight into these processes. This will help to improve support to caregivers and care-recipients, for example by means of face-to-face counselling, eHealth or assistive technology, or policy change.

Publications

Dang, S., Looijmans A., Ferraris G., Giovanni L., Hagedoorn M. (2022). Exploring the needs of spousal, adult child and adult sibling informal caregivers : A mixed-method systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2022.832974

Morrison, V., Zarzycki, M., Vilchinsky, N., Sanderman, R., Lamura, G., Fisher, O., Ferraris, G., Elayan, S., Buskens, E., Bei, E., ... & Hagedoorn, M. (2022). A Multinational Longitudinal Study Incorporating Intensive Methods to Examine Caregiver Experiences in the Context of Chronic Health Conditions: Protocol of the ENTWINE-iCohort. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(2), 821.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020821

Ferraris, G., Dang, S., Woodford, J., & Hagedoorn, M. (2021). The role of dyadic interdependence among non-spousal caregiving dyads: a systematic review. PROSPERO, CRD42020215259 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020215259

Coumoundouros, C., Mårtensson, E., Ferraris, G., von Essen, L., Sanderman, R., & Woodford, J. (2020). Implementation of e-mental health interventions for informal caregivers of adults with chronic diseases: a systematic review. Implementation Science, 15(Suppl 4), P10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-020-01062-3