Informal Caregiver Burnout? Development of a Theoretical Framework to Understand the Impact of Caregiving

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Pierre Gérain¹  Emmanuelle Zech² 

[1] National Fund for Scientific Research;Person Centred Research and Training Lab, Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain

关键词: informal caregiver;    family caregiver;    burnout;    burden;    carer;    exhaustion;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01748

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Informal caregiving is a rewarding but demanding role. The present theoretical framework proposes to adapt the tridimensional concept of burnout to informal caregiving as a way to address the potential consequences of caregiving. This adaptation reflects caregivers’ reported difficulties, as well as empirical findings on emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment as caregiving outcomes. But to understand burnout in informal caregiving contexts, it is also necessary to find ways to model it. The Informal Caregiving Integrative Model (ICIM) is thus proposed. This model is based on the integration of elements from literature on both informal caregiving stress and professional burnout. The goal of the ICIM is to emphasize the importance of every category of determinants of informal caregiver burnout (i.e., relating to the caregiver, the caregiving setting, and the sociocultural context), with a key mediating role for the caregivers’ appraisal of their situation and their relationship with the care-recipient. This article is a first integrative step in the consideration of a form of burnout specific to informal caregivers and supports the design of empirical and interventional studies based on the theoretical foundation that the ICIM proposes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY