The emotional wellbeing of informal care partners of people living with dementia

Caring for someone living with dementia can be physically demanding and emotionally challenging. Many informal care partners experience difficult emotions. Some informal care partners can be very self-critical and worry that they are not doing a good enough job or that they are making mistakes. Other informal care partners are kinder and more understanding towards themselves when things are hard or go wrong.

This research project will look at how being self-critical or self-compassionate relates to emotional wellbeing in informal care partners of people living with dementia.

People who meet the following criteria may be eligible to participate:

• you are at least 18 years of age
• you can read and understand English
• you are currently an informal care partner for a person living with dementia (all dementia types and stages). An informal care partner is a person who provides unpaid, ongoing support (e.g., family member, spouse/partner, friend, neighbour).

Participation involves completing an anonymous online survey that will take approximately 25-minutes.

You will be asked to provide some general information about yourself and your caring context. These questions will not ask for information that could identify you (or the person you care for). You will then be asked to indicate on a scale how much certain statements represent your thoughts, feelings and how you have been feeling over the past week. For example, you will see statements like, “I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things” or “When I’m feeling down, I try to approach my feelings with curiosity and openness”.

To complete the survey please click HERE