Stress (psychology)

Aim: Analyze the concept "tipping point" in the older adult family caregiving context to further knowledge about caregiving families, enhancing transdisciplinary theory, research, and practice. Background: While used commonly in some disciplines, how "tipping point" has been used in health care, generally, and in relation to caregiving families, specifically, is less clear. This project was conducted to offer conceptual clarity to tipping point. Design: Walker and Avant's framework.

Informal caregivers (ICs) are forced to make adaptive lifestyle changes to meet the significant demand of caring for loved ones who are terminally ill. Open-ended questions were administered with 26 ICs who cared for loved ones diagnosed with terminal illnesses whose prognosis was less than six months. The results add substantive information to parsimonious literature and demonstrate a correlation with existing studies that coincide with the debilitating effects that caregiving has on the informal carer.

Objectives: The study examined the typical diurnal cortisol trajectory and its differential associations with an intervention, the adult day services (ADS) use, among a sample of family caregivers who experienced high levels of daily stress. Method: On hundred and sixty-five caregivers of individuals with dementia completed an 8-day diary on daily stressors, positive events, sleep quality, and ADS use. The caregivers also provided five saliva samples on each diary day.

Purpose: To identify factors affecting the quality of life (QOL) of African American women (AAW) family caregivers of individuals with kidney failure. Methods: Ferrans' Conceptual Model of QOL provided the framework for this literature review. Included studies were (a) peer- reviewed, (b) published within the last ten years, (c) written in English, and (d) examined QOL of AAW family caregivers. Using CINAHL© and PubMed©, we found 14 studies that described factors associated with these caregivers' QOL.

Aims and objectives: To explore the experiences of female spousal caregivers in the care of husbands with severe mental illness. Background: Family involvement in the care of patients with chronic illness is essential to provide a backbone of support for them. However, little is known about how female spousal caregivers are confronted with challenges while taking care of their husbands with severe mental illness. Design: An exploratory qualitative study.

Purpose: Most health outcome measures for chronic diseases do not incorporate specific health goals of patients and caregivers. To elicit patient-centered goals for dementia care, we conducted a qualitative study using focus groups of people with early-stage dementia and dementia caregivers. Methods: We conducted 5 focus groups with 43 participants (7 with early-stage dementia and 36 caregivers); 15 participants were Spanish-speaking.

We examined psychological parameters in family caregivers of palliative cancer patients before and after the death of the patients. Caregivers’ data about depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), quality‐of‐life (Short Form‐8 Health Survey), and social support (Oslo Social Support Scale) were collected at the beginning of home care (t1) and 2 months after the patient had died (t2). Regression models were employed to examine factors related to depression and anxiety in the bereaved caregivers. We interviewed 72 relatives, who were the primary caregiver of a patient.

Diet and exercise are important for the wellbeing of people with cancer and their family caregivers. Unfortunately, little is known about their behaviors over time or factors that may influence their engagement in these behaviors. This exploratory study examined the influence of chronic conditions, symptom distress, and perceived social support on exercise and diet behaviors of patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) and interdependence theory as guiding frameworks.

Family members are often the primary caregiver for autistic adults and this responsibility may impact on the carer's wellbeing and quality of life. 109 family members of autistic adults completed an online survey assessing their wellbeing relating to their caring role for their autistic relative. Family members who were supporting an autistic relative with co-occurring mental health difficulties and who they reported as unprepared for the future, self-reported higher levels of worry, depression, anxiety and stress, and poorer quality of life.

This study investigates potential explanations of the association between caring and common mental disorder, using the English Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. We examined whether carers are more exposed to other stressors additional to caring – such as domestic violence and debt – and if so whether this explains their elevated rates of mental disorder. We analysed differences between carers and non-carers in common mental disorders (CMD), suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts, recent stressors, social support, and social participation.