Insights into the Caregiver Perspective: Involvement, Well-being, and Interventions

The range, duration, and intensity of informal caregiving across different illnesses and disabilities have increased in the 21st century due to an increase in longevity and de-institutionalization in most countries. Caregiving is demanding and hence can be stressful in terms of time, effort, and financial requirements, depending on the nature of the illness or disability, the relationships between the person in need of support and the caregiver, and the role played by available health and social care services. However, research evidence has demonstrated that it can be also rewarding, and enables a different type of bonding than was the case before caregiving became a necessity.

This Research Topic aims to cover the range of physical and mental ill-health and disability, as well as intersectional factors such as age, class, education, gender, and relationships between the person in need and the caregiver internationally, in order to have a more in-depth understanding of the current state of affairs in this sensitive area.
Such an understanding would be based on existing, updated, research evidence. Existing research varies considerably in terms of the conceptual and methodological frameworks it is based upon, as well as the specificity of the psychosocial and medical context of the person and their caregiver. It is important to analyze the different elements of each study, including – but not limited to:
• the cultural dimension of the specific society in which a study was undertaken
• the illness or disability of the cared-for person
• the expectations from the caregiver of the person they care for
• the service providers
• the main caregiver her/himself and other family members who may play a secondary role in caregiving.

We welcome research covering the following themes:
• outcomes of education programs on the stress levels of caregivers
• caregiver perspectives on the physical and mental wellbeing of the person they care for
• studies exploring caregiver burden, psychological well-being, and coping styles
• caregivers' role in the treatment of physical and mental ill-health conditions
• attitudes of professional providers to caregivers
• development and evaluation of the effectiveness of caregiving and the tools applied in measuring it from the perspectives of the person, the caregivers and the service providers.

Systematic reviews and/or quasi-experimental studies, and qualitative methodological approaches, would be welcomed.