Self-compassion, coping and burden of carers of people with dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating self-compassion, coping strategies and caregiver burden of carers of people with dementia from an ethnically diverse population.
IRAS ID
258587
Contact name
Andrew McClave
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Providing care for a person with dementia can have implications on the physical and mental wellbeing of carers. Research suggests that carers may use different coping strategies when faced with stress and burden. These coping strategies may focus on the practical or emotional aspects of caregiving. In addition, some carers may respond to stress and suffering by being kind towards themselves; this is also known as self-compassion.
Previous research has explored self-compassion, coping strategies and carer burden in carers of people with dementia. However, most of the carers who took part were white British carers. Therefore, we want to investigate self-compassion, coping strategies and carer burden in a group of carers from diverse ethnic and cultural groups. Carers will be recruited from the research register of the Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Service of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust. Carers will be asked to complete some questionnaires to assess self-compassion, coping strategies and carer burden. Data from the questionnaires will be analysed to explore the relationships between self-compassion, coping strategies and carer burden. It is hoped that the data will show whether there are differences in the experience of self-compassion, coping strategies and carer burden in a more diverse sample. In addition, the data may indicate the best way for clinical services to support carers who may experience caregiving-related stress or burden in future.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0393
Date of REC Opinion
26 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion