The impact of caregiving on informal carers’ mental and physical health

The correlation between caregiving and physical and mental health is well established. In particular, research has traditionally highlighted the negative consequences on carers’ health, by focusing on the stress and burden associated with caregiving. Caring for a dependent family member presents all the features of a chronic stress experience: it creates the physical and psychological strain over extended periods of time, is accompanied by high levels of unpredictability and uncontrollability, has the capacity to create secondary stress in multiple life domains such as work and family relationships, and frequently requires high levels of vigilance.