Study finds 80% of family caregivers are happy

Expanding on a 2007 study that revealed around 80 percent of caregivers found the experience emotionally rewarding (despite initially having a negative perception of caregiving), Caregiving Today CEO Victor Imbimbo wrote an article for the Huffington Post last week about the conditions that influence the emotional well-being of family caregivers.

As the Encompass blog has touched on before, caregiver stress is a real concern for the 55 million Americans who have provided elder care in the last five years. Consequently, Imbimbo found the happiness factor among family caregivers interesting.

In the 2007 study, 60 percent of respondents said they “felt very positive about their role as a family caregiver.” The most common emotional benefits the happy caregivers experienced included a strengthened relationship with their loved one as well as the feeling that they were returning the love they had received all their lives, according to Imbimbo.

The article revealed that these happy family caregivers naturally are:

• Better prepared for the caregiver role
• Able to make a concerted effort to take care of themselves, including eating properly, sleeping enough, maintaining work schedules, et al.
• More focused on being optimistic and happy

So what makes a caregiver happy? It’s the exact same thing that makes any person happy in general — those who already believe that achieving happiness in their daily lives is a realistic goal. “When [happiness] becomes a way of life I guarantee it will significantly improve your ability to handle the many twists and turns you experience as a family caregiver,” Imbimbo concludes.

Whether or not a person is happy in playing the role of Family Caregiver, there will undoubtedly be times of stress and grief along the way. That’s when the services of a senior care provider, such as Physicians Choice Private Duty in Omaha, can help offer solutions to ensure the continued quality care of an aging loved one.

All Encompass services are directed by registered nurses or social workers with no long-term contracts. Contact us today.

“Physicians Choice Private Duty solves the problems families face in finding home health care providers they can trust. Providers who will focus on strategies that keep parents in their homes. To learn more about our health care services, visit https://private-duty.pchhc.com/services/“