SelfhelpMagazine

by Jason T. Newsom, Ph.D. & Richard Schulz, Ph.D.

This study is a particular importance, given the increasing number of disabled people the world over. This study is one of the first to examine the effects of care-receiving for the disabled.

The research showed that disabled people often don't receive the appropriate amount of help they need. No less than 40 percent (2 of every 5) of participants actually reported emotional distress from being helped.

Research also indicates that negative responses to help from a caregiver may lead to more depression among care recipients. These effects were still present in participants one year after participation in the study.

This study involved 276 physically disabled older Americans age 65 and over requiring regular assistance with one or more daily activities from their spousal caregivers. Psychologist researchers found that 50 percent of disabled care recipients reported being helped with activities unnecessarily, while 28 percent reported not receiving help they needed. "We are starting to learn that family care giving may not always be as successful as we assumed it to be," says Dr. Newsom, lead author of the study.

Some of the factors that may predict negative responses to help included greater physical impairment, lower self-esteem, and a perceived lack of ability to control events in one's life. The study participants were suffering from a range of disabling conditions, including arthritis, stroke, heart disease and eye disease.

The study found that negative reactions to being helped was associated with depression a year after the study, suggesting that unwanted help or imprecise help may have long-lasting effects. The authors suggest that developing appropriate helping behaviors may be even more important when caring for the mentally impaired, who may not be as capable of verbalizing their needs to care givers.

Further research on negative reactions to care giving may increase knowledge of the relationship between physical impairment and depression. The researchers suggest future research should aim to collect more information to help communication between care recipients and their care giving spouses.

The authors conclude that "the potential consequences for the mental health of care recipients also suggest the need for interventions that may ultimately improve care giving exchanges and the quality of life for care recipients." Improved communication seems to be the key.

Reference:

"Caregiving from the Recipient's Perspective: Negative Reactions to Being Helped" by Jason T. Newsom, Ph.D. & Richard Schulz, Ph.D. in Health Psychology, Vol. 17, No. 2.

This information received from the American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC.