Caregiving can have both positive and negative outcomes. These outcomes often contribute to caregivers suffering declines in their own health. Positive outcomes of caregiving have been largely disregarded in studies and are far less understood than the negative outcomes. Individual caregivers have reported emotional satisfaction, personal growth, and closer relationships derived from the caregiving experience. Intervention and prevention strategies should seek to increase positive outcomes.
Emphasis needs to be placed on family strengths, resources, and priorities.
Prevention programs should focus on families not yet stressed but who need information and referrals, such as families at the beginning of their caregiving experiences. As time progresses and stress and burdens increase, intervention programs may be more appropriate. Counseling can help caregivers overcome psychological barriers to using offered services or to deal with guilt, anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. As a result, how care is distributed among members of a caregiving family is being documented. This wording of the question may encourage one member of the family to identify himself or herself as the primary caregiver, even though the reality for the family is different.