Gains and losses of caring for an older relative and the indication for geropsychological intervention

Scientific Conference (2017)

Caring for a close person involves and impacts several aspects and domains of personal life. A scenario that is often sketched here indicates that caring is physically exhausting, demanding time, leaving ... [more ▼]

Caring for a close person involves and impacts several aspects and domains of personal life. A scenario that is often sketched here indicates that caring is physically exhausting, demanding time, leaving no time for leisure, and excluding the carer from further social activities. In this view, caring is strain as it is clearly described by the concept of caregiver burden, and a risk for the psychological and/or physical health of family carers. But caring may also have another side of positive gratification and of fulfilment. To care for another person may represent a meaningful work for both the cared for and the caring person that may also go along with recognition and positive feedback from others. This is the starting point of the present study that addressed a sample of 151 informal carers (n = 111 female) with a mean age of 58 years (SD=14 years) with self-report questionnaire. The measure offered in a first part positive (n=35) and negative aspects (n=23) of caring for a close person and subjects had to rate how much they agree that these aspects are present in their own care giving relationship. Moreover, life satisfaction as well as positive and negative affect were assessed in a second part. Multivariate analyses by factor as well as cluster analyses showed different profiles of gains and losses that were systematically linked to indicators of subjective well-being. Findings will be discussed with respect to their implications for psychosocial intervention in the field of informal care. [less ▲]

Opening: Concept of the book, goals and program of the workshop on cultures of care

Scientific Conference (2015, September)

“This is not my town” - Feelings of closeness and security of older migrants and national residents

Scientific Conference (2015, July)

Social policy measures for improving subjective well-being in later life: Issues of theoretical and empirical foundation

Scientific Conference (2014, September 15)

Subjective well-being (SWB) in later life is important not just as an indicator of life quality, of mental health and of successful aging of older people, but also because of its effects on individually ... [more ▼]

Subjective well-being (SWB) in later life is important not just as an indicator of life quality, of mental health and of successful aging of older people, but also because of its effects on individually or socially relevant outcomes (e.g. health, social engagement). This raises the question about the extent to which and under what conditions SWB of older people can be improved by social policy measures (SPM). Our presentation examines theoretical and empirical issues related to answering this question. A first theoretical topic considers the relevance of bottom-up vs. top-down approaches conceptualizing the link between domain-specific satisfaction (e.g., with health, financial situation, social relationships) and global life satisfaction in old age. A second issue concerns the theoretical status of SWB in causal networks, i.e., SWB as consequence, as cause, as mediator and as moderator variable. A third topic refers to what can be derived from different theoretical approaches to SWB about whether and when SPM should have an effect of SWB in later life. Following that several empirical questions with respect to improving SWB of older people through SPM are considered. First, we discuss whether the present level of SWB in older adults (or subgroups thereof) indicates a demand for improving SWB. Second, we look at the importance of SWB for individually and socially desirable outcomes (e.g., on health, community involvement) by providing specific evidence which can provide further reasons for improving SWB through SPM. Third, we examine which life circumstances (e.g., financial situation, functional status), life events (e.g., becoming disabled) and individual activities (e.g., volunteering) are known to be significantly related to SWB and which of these conditions could principally be improved through SPM. Fourth, we discuss existing and needed empirical evidence for the effects of local, regional, national SPM on SWB in later life. We emphasize that past research has already produced an impressive body of knowledge relevant for improving SWB in older people through SPM, but that further theoretical and empirical efforts are needed to provide such SPM with a richer foundation. We conclude that better strategies for communicating results of research about SWB to policy makers should be elaborated so that these can have more impact on policy decisions about SPM. [less ▲]

Pflege alter Menschen in der Familie: Emotionen, Ziele und Handlungsmöglichkeiten von Angehörigen

Scientific Conference (2013, November 27)

Familienangehörige sind die wichtigsten informellen Pflegepersonen alter Menschen. Der vorliegende Beitrag beleuchtet aus emotions- und handlungstheoretischer Sicht affektive und aktiv-gestalterische ... [more ▼]

Familienangehörige sind die wichtigsten informellen Pflegepersonen alter Menschen. Der vorliegende Beitrag beleuchtet aus emotions- und handlungstheoretischer Sicht affektive und aktiv-gestalterische Prozesse in der Familienpflege, die in der traditionellen Forschung zu "caregiver burden" und "caregiver gain" bislang nur unzureichend behandelt wurden. Einleitend werden verschiedene objektive Facetten der Pflegebedürftigkeit im Alter inclusive der daraus erwachsenden Aufgaben und Leistungen pflegender Angehöriger sowie der positiven und negativen Auswirkungen auf andere Lebensbereiche der Pflegenden und Gepflegten beschrieben. Im Anschluss daran wird die subjektive Bedeutung der Pflegesituation für die pflegenden Angehörigen thematisiert. Hierbei wird zunächst das breite Spektrum positiver und negativer Emotionen pflegender Angehöriger, deren Genese aus der subjektiven Einschätzung der Pflegesituation und die mit den ausgelösten Emotionen einhergehenden Handlungsbereitschaften der pflegenden Angehörigen dargestellt. Einen weiteren Schwerpunkt bilden zentrale Entscheidungen pflegender Angehöriger für das Leben der Gepflegten und für ihr eigenes Leben (z.B. Übernahme der Pflegerolle, Veranlassung einer Heimunterbringung). Hierbei wird auf die multiplen Ziele pflegender Angehöriger (z.B. Wohlergehen der Gepflegten, eigenes Wohlergehen, Wohlergehen Dritter), mögliche Zielkonflikte und die Bedeutung von Zielen für das Handeln pflegender Angehöriger eingegangen. Möglichkeiten der konsequenten Zielverfolgung in der Pflege werden ebenso behandelt wie solche der flexiblen Zieladjustierung im Falle unerreichbar gewordener Pflegeziele. Abschließend wird resümiert , dass die Anpassung von pflegenden Angehörigen ein komplexes Geschehen darstellt: Die Familienpflege ist mit vielen Aufgaben, Leistungen und Auswirkungen auf andere Lebensbereiche verbunden, wodurch multiple Ziele der Pflegenden tangiert (erfüllt oder frustriert) werden können; solche Ziele können je nach Lage der Situation auf sehr verschiedene Weise verfolgt oder auch an das Realisierbare angepasst werden. [less ▲]

Family caregiving for older people from a life-span developmental point of view

in Albert, Isabelle; Ferring, Dieter (Eds.) Intergenerational relations: European perspectives in family and society (2013)

Family members are the most important informal carers for older people. The present paper analyses their situation with core concepts from life-span developmental psychology such as critical life events ... [more ▼]

Family members are the most important informal carers for older people. The present paper analyses their situation with core concepts from life-span developmental psychology such as critical life events, developmental tasks, development-related goals, emotions, and actions. From that perspective two mayor branches of past caregiver research (on caregiver burden and on caregiver gain) are reviewed and criticized as underestimating the active role of family carers as authors of important decisions for their own and the care-recipients’ life and as neglecting the carers’ differentiated emotions. Following this, hypotheses are generated about how the multi-facetted caregiving situation partly frustrates and partly fulfills family carers’ goals concerning their own development and that of the care recipient and how this gives rise to family carers’ emotions, action tendencies, and actions. Moreover, family carers’ goals, goal conflicts, and major action possibilities are considered as well as carers’s goal adjustments and development of competencies and personality attributes in response to caregiving. It is concluded that concepts from life-span developmental psychology enable a more comprehensive analysis of family caregiving and promise future progress in research, especially if they also take into account the socio-cultural constraints and options of family carers’ actions and development. [less ▲]

Problematische Verhaltensweisen von pflegebedürftigen alten Menschen aus der Sicht von pflegenden Angehörigen: Eine clusteranalytische Studie

in Verhaltenstherapie (2011), 21(21, Supplement 1), 14-14

Le Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (2011). Apprendre le développement durable - agir pour l’avenir. Stratégie nationale d’éducation pour un développement durable

Book published by Ministère de l'Education nationale et de la Formation professionnelle (2011)

Subjective well-being in older adults: Current state and gaps of research

in Bovenberg, Lans; Van Soest, Arthur; Zaidi, Asghar (Eds.) Ageing, health and pensions in Europe (2010)

Reviews research on subjective well-being in older adults and describes remaining desiderata. After introducing the topic of subjective well-being (SWB) in older adults, various policy questions related ... [more ▼]

Reviews research on subjective well-being in older adults and describes remaining desiderata. After introducing the topic of subjective well-being (SWB) in older adults, various policy questions related to that topic are formulated. Then the major advances in research are described. These refer to a conceptual clarification and measurement issues of SWB and related concepts (e.g., life satisfaction), the internal structure of SWB, the theoretical status of SWB in causal networks, main findings about the developmental course, causes, and consequences of SWB in older adults, and theoretical models about SWB regulation in this population. Based on that, remaining gaps in knowledge and potential research directions for SWB especially in older adults are highlighted. These are related to the measurement of SWB, the limited age range and age segmentation in empirical studies on SWB, the causes of SWB and its regulation as well as effective policy measures to promote SWB. Then, the current state of European infrastructures and desirable developments related to research on SWB in older adults are described (large-scale longitudinal studies on aging, regular representative surveys of the general and the older population, international research cooperations and networks). Finally, the significance of the available and expected future knowledge for social policy decision making is discussed. [less ▲]

Emotional relationship quality of adult children whith ageing parents: On solidarity, conflict and ambivalence.

in European Journal of Ageing (2009), 6

Emotions toward a relationship partner provide relevant and specific information about relationship quality. Based on this assumption the present study was performed to identify different types of ... [more ▼]

Emotions toward a relationship partner provide relevant and specific information about relationship quality. Based on this assumption the present study was performed to identify different types of emotional relationship quality of middle-aged adult children with their aging parents. This was done by cluster analytic procedures in a sample of 1,208 middle-aged adult children (482 men, 726 women). Using ratings of positive and negative emotions toward their mother and their father as grouping variables, the same four-cluster solution emerged for both the child-mother relationship and the child-father relationship. Clusters were labelled as amicable, disharmonious, detached, and ambivalent relationships. Results showed that especially amicable relationships clearly prevailed followed by ambivalent, detached, and disharmonious relationships. Clusters differed significantly with respect to gender of adult child, willingness to support, expected parental support, and overt conflicts. In a cross-classification of cluster membership regarding the child-mother relationship (4 clusters) and the child-father relationship (4 clusters), all possible 16 combinations were observed, with a considerable degree of divergence regarding the type of relationship quality within the same family. Results are discussed with respect to types of emotional relationship quality, within family differences, and the intrafamilial regulation of relationship quality. [less ▲]