Approximately 53 million US adults provide unpaid care to a spouse, older parent or relative, or child with special health care needs. Caregivers report poorer physical, mental and emotional well-being compared to non-caregivers. Self-compassion is a promising and practical skill for caregivers, as it involves noticing when we are struggling and being supportive towards ourselves — treating ourselves as we would a good friend.
In honor of National Family Caregivers Month, we’d like to highlight a recent study supported by UNC Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Fitch Family Foundation aimed at increasing well-being and resilience in caregivers of children with physical disabilities using self-compassion skills.
Eight caregivers participated in a 6 week live online group course called “Resilience Habits for Caregivers”. The format and curriculum was tailored based on caregiver and community advisors. Each session lasted 1.5 hours and provided self-compassion-based curriculum that included didactics, large and small group discussions, meditations, and practices led by a trained facilitator. Participants learned skills for orienting to difficult emotions and circumstances with emotional awareness and balance, connection, and kind, self-directed support.
Findings were promising. The course was well-received and well-attended. Compared to pre-course, participants reported increased resilience and self-compassion. They also reported decreased anxiety, depression, perceived stress, difficulties with emotion regulation and caregiving burden. Qualitative data suggested that participants felt a greater sense of community and social connectedness post-participation.
We will continue to test the course with larger groups of caregivers, comparing self-compassion-based training to other types of well-being supports.