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It’s good to know you got researchers on your side.
The Journal of Happiness Studies asked what makes caregivers happy.
HOPE is what makes caregivers happy.
More accurately, HOPE is the best of 24 character determinants which determine a family caregiver's life satisfaction.
Researchers Garcìa-Castro and Blanca [1] compared 24 common character strengths. The “Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS)” classifies 24 traits caregivers could learn to develop within themselves [2]:
See that lil HOPE in there?
The research studied family caregivers and found HOPE is the Number #1 character strength to help family caregivers maintain high life satisfaction.
Let’s try … try to find at least one thing right now that makes you hopeful.
To find hope, you need at least one thing that you legitimately look forward to.
It can be small or big. It can be a person, place, or thing. It can be your little secret, or something you share with the world.
Demographically speaking, one group of family caregivers is at particular risk of low life satisfaction.
Worldwide, between 57% to 81% of all caregivers of the elderly are women. [3]
It’s female caregivers, typically spouse or daughter, caring for an aging family member with dementia.
All caregivers can benefit from hope. My heart goes out to those who fit the description. Generally speaking, it's the women in our families who take on the biggest burden of caregiving.
If you know a family caregiver who's going through a rough time - someone who lacks HOPE - you can’t change their mindset overnight. But you can be a friend, and plan a little something for them to look forward to.
Here is a quote taken directly from researcher Brodraty’s 2009 thesis on family caregivers of people with dementia [4]:
Family caregivers may be motivated to provide care for several reasons: a sense of love or reciprocity, spiritual fulfillment, a sense of duty, guilt, social pressures, or in rare instances, greed. [...] Caregivers who are motivated by a sense of duty, guilt, or social and cultural norms are more likely to resent their role and suffer greater psychological distress than caregivers with more positive motivations. [...] Caregivers who identify more beneficial components of their role experience less burden, better health and relationships, and greater social support. [...]
If you the care you provide doesn’t come from a place of positive emotion. If you’re just doing it because you have to do it. Then you are especially at risk.
Family caregivers who call it “a thankless act of duty that nobody else in the world would care to do”? These caregivers tend to have the worst overall life satisfaction.
It's true, nobody will care to improve your circumstances more than you.
It’s true, the eldercare and housework you get done remain hidden inside your home.
You need something to believe in, something to HOPE for.
In a perfect world no caregiver deed would go unthanked.
We’d demonstrate measured appreciation for the work family caregivers do hidden away in their homes.
I’ve learned HOPE is the best thing for caregiver happiness. It can be big or small. It’s something a friend can help with by keeping in touch. It’s something a family caregiver who got lemons can turn into lemonade.
