Capability to care: supporting the health of informal caregivers for older people

Abstract

Objective: The study investigated the capabilities important to the health of people caring informally for elders.

Method: Over 4 months, 60 informal caregivers from New Zealand participated in online discussion boards that provided a set of virtual forums. It drew upon the Capability Approach (Sen, 1980) to frame a qualitative inquiry whereby participants could anonymously respond to an evolving joint discussion of their health needs. Template analysis based on Nussbaum's (2007) list of essential human capabilities informed the thematic analysis.

Results: The results showed the interconnected nature of capabilities and the importance of emotions in informal caregiving. Emotional attachment influenced the caregivers' freedom to choose how they lived their lives. Because they valued the capability to care for loved ones, the caregivers traded other capabilities, putting their lives on hold, and compromising their wellbeing.

Conclusion: The self-abnegation reported by the caregivers highlighted the relational nature of caregiving and challenged a dominant perspective in the caregiving literature that focuses on the burdens of caregiving. The significance of emotional aspects related to the valued capabilities of caregiving suggests the need to acknowledge caregiving as an interdependent relationship and emotions as a crucial place to focus future support for caregivers.