Framing the public health of caregiving

Abstract

Caregiving has only recently been acknowledged by the nation as an important topic for millions of Americans. A psychological or sociological approach to care-giving services has been most often applied, with little attention to the population-based public health outcomes of caregivers. We conceptualize caregiving as an emerging public health issue involving complex and fluctuating roles. We contend that caregiving must be considered in the context of life span needs that vary according to the ages, developmental levels, mental health needs, and physical health demands of both caregivers and care recipients.

FIGURE 1—

A triadic model of caregiving: factors influencing the care recipient, family caregiver, and professional caregiver team.

Figure 2

A young boy and his sibling walk around a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Paico IDP camp in Gulu, Uganda. Nearly 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes and up to 12 000 people have been killed in 2 decades of fighting during Northern Uganda’s civil war. Photograph by Jeff Hutchens.