How Is the Caregiver Doing? Capturing Caregivers' Experiences With a Reflective Toolkit. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: This paper describes the Co-Care-KIT, a reflective toolkit designed to provide insights into the diverse experiences of home-based informal caregivers during the delivery of care to a relative or loved one. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the toolkit, including a custom-designed journal, tools for photography-based experience sampling, and heart rate tracking, which enables caregivers to collect and reflect on their positive and negative daily experiences in situ. METHODS: A 2-week field study with informal caregivers (N=7) was conducted to evaluate the Co-Care-KIT and to capture their daily personal emotional experiences. The collected data samples were analyzed and used for collaborative dialogue between the researcher and caregiver. RESULTS: The results suggest that the toolkit (1) increased caregivers' awareness of their own well-being through in situ reflection on their experiences; (2) empowered caregivers to share their identities and experiences as a caregiver within their social networks; (3) enabled the capturing of particularly positive experiences; and (4) provided caregivers reassurance with regards to their own mental health. CONCLUSION: By enabling capturing and collaborative reflection, the kit helped to gain a new understanding of caregivers' day-to-day needs and emotional experiences.

publication date

  • May 28, 2019

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC6707576

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85118592644

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1093/geronj/38.3.344

PubMed ID

  • 31140435

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 6

issue

  • 5