Optimism and the Psychological Recovery Process Among Informal Caregivers of Inpatients Suffering From Depressive Disorder: A Descriptive Exploratory Study

Abstract

Background: Informal caregivers of people suffering from depressive disorders go through a psychological recovery process. This process is dynamic, deep, catalyzed by hope and optimism and characterized by stages from which specific needs ensue. This study aimed to describe the stages of the psychological recovery process and the level of optimism among informal caregivers of psychiatric inpatients suffering from depressive disorders in order to provide adapted nursing support and psychoeducation and facilitate a patient's own recovery. Methods: A descriptive exploratory study was conducted using a convenience sample of 29 informal caregivers. Participants filled out a sociodemographic questionnaire, a specially adapted Stages of Recovery Instrument (STORI) and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). Results: A mean optimism score of 16.41 showed that informal caregivers are close to the level of the general European population. The sample included all the stages of the recovery process, with 34.5% of participants being in the growth stage. Informal caregivers' stages in the recovery process were negatively associated with the patient's length of illness (Rho =-.683, p = .000) and positively associated with the caregivers' level of optimism (Rho = .564, p = .001). Conclusion: During the inpatient treatment of a close relative suffering from a depressive disorder, informal caregivers go through an individual psychological recovery process involving several stages. In addition to caring for inpatients, nurses are encouraged to meet and support caregivers as soon as possible in their individual recovery process. Furthermore, the development of a suitably adapted clinical tool would facilitate the assessment of the informal caregiver's stage in the recovery process within care units. A multidisciplinary approach is needed in this domain.

Lived experiences of informal caregivers of people with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a systematic review and meta-ethnography

“…11 These have highlighted various lived experiences, each of which offer difference experiences dependent on the disease state of individuals. Whilst these are recurrent themes such as constant burden, 8,10 knowledge 9,11 and role reversal, 11 there are also differences related to reward, worth and pleasure which have been associated with caregiving for people with terminal illness, 12,13 but also fear and concern regarding harm, associated with caregiving for people with cognitive impairment. 14,15 Various sociological models have been developed to explain caregiver-care recipient dyads.…”

Ability to Care for an Ill Loved One During the First COVID-19 Lockdown: Mediators of Informal Caregivers’ Stress in Europe

“…Indeed, the channels used to share the survey (e.g., online social networks) specifically targeted informal caregivers in contact with informal caregivers’ associations or with health professionals. Study participants were better educated than is usually reported ( 51 ), suggesting that some groups were missed, possibly due to digital poverty or lack of health literacy skills. Moreover, the time spent providing care or support to the care recipient and the frequency of contact between the informal caregiver and the care recipient were not used as eligibility criteria because the pandemic context may have affected them drastically.…”

Trajectory of Psychosocial Measures Amongst Informal Caregivers: Case-Controlled Study of 1375 Informal Caregivers from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

“…Furthermore, caregivers were not selected based on a specific illness or medical condition of the care-recipients. Previous evidence has frequently focused on examining informal caregiver outcomes for caregivers with specific diseases [8,11,19]. Accordingly, this analysis provides new insights to the wider community.…”

“…Given these contextual factors, this is a valuable model when investigating the caregiving dyad. However, there remains limited evidence how these change over time [19,20].…”