Knowledge Bank

The purpose of this study is to examine how primary caregivers who provide complex, chronic care develop individual resilience through the exploration of the caregiver experience. As the population in the United States ages, increasing numbers of family members will serve as the primary caregiver for a family member who requires complex, chronic care. This level of care includes the performance of complex medical or nursing tasks, such as administering medication and wound care, often without professional training and oversight. Family caregivers are most often spousal caregivers over the age of 65 years, or adult children with a median age of 54 years. These caregivers have few opportunities for respite and formal support. In order to examine the development of individual resilience in caregivers providing complex, chronic care, semi-structured in-person qualitative interviews were conducted with three (N=3) caregivers referred from local healthcare facilities and support centers. These interviews indicate that resilience is represented by a duality in which the caregivers recognize and define resilience in others, but do not apply that definition to themselves, though they demonstrated the characteristics of their definition. This duality was present as caregivers considered their relationships with self and others, as their realities were not congruent with their desires. While the presence and development of resilience is a critical protective factor for caregivers, there is still a strong need for more advanced formal support and respite efforts, which is an area for further research and study in this area