Nearly one-half (46%) of Canadians have been in caregiving roles to family members
or friends; 50% of these caregivers are between the ages of 45 to 65 years, and the
majority (54%) are women.
1
A caregiver is broadly defined as someone who provides informal or unpaid work to
a family member or friend with a chronic condition or disability.
Caregiving roles typically include transportation, housework, house maintenance and
outdoor work, scheduling and coordinating appointments, managing finances, helping
with medical treatments, and providing personal care.
1
Caregiving has enormous benefits to the care recipient and the health care system.
Despite these benefits, caregiving has detrimental effects on one’s ability to exercise,
consume a healthy diet, and maintain alcohol consumption within recommended limits.
3
Detrimental effects of the caregiving experience are greater among middle-aged caregivers,
those known as the “sandwich generation,” because they balance paid work commitments
and interpersonal relationships with care delivery tasks for parents, children, and/or
partners.
3
Caregiving can also lead to financial hardship for younger caregivers, with an average
loss of $1.2 million in earnings (present and future) and $30,000 in out-of-pocket
expenses.
3
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 09, 2019
Accepted:
June 25,
2019
Received:
June 3,
2019
Footnotes
See article by Bouchard et al., pages 1409–1411 of this issue.
See page 1269 for disclosure information.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ScienceDirect
Access this article on ScienceDirectLinked Article
- Reducing Caregiver Distress and Cardiovascular Risk: A Focus on Caregiver-Patient Relationship QualityCanadian Journal of CardiologyVol. 35Issue 10
- PreviewSpouses report elevated levels of distress upon assuming a caregiver role; this role and related distress might, ironically, increase the cardiovascular risk of spousal caregivers of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Physiological, behavioural, and emotional factors experienced by caregivers can contribute to enhanced CVD risk. Despite an appreciation of these established associations few approaches have shown effectiveness in reducing a caregiver’s stress. It is known that CVD can produce additional strain on a caregiver-patient relationship, in turn accentuating caregiver distress.
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