Acquiring caregiving knowledge and skills may reduce informal caregivers' burden and enhance positive feelings, yet evidence on the impact of the learning across caregiving domains is limited. We examined the association between learning experiences in caregiving knowledge/skills and caregivers' negative and positive outcomes. This cross-sectional study involved 934 informal caregivers (mean 58.4 years) of family members aged ≥65 years, via an internet-based questionnaire. The Japanese version of the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA-J) evaluated assessed five domains: impact on schedule, caregivers' self-esteem, lack of family support, impact on health, and impact on finances. Learning experiences were measured in seven areas: knowledge of diseases, living support, medical practice/devices management, mental support, physical care, safety management, and social resources. Oveall, 24.1% reported learning about caregiving in at least one area. Multivariable regression analysis indicated that learning experiences were associated with higher caregiver's self-esteem, but not CRA-J total scores and other domains. Learning other than knowledge of diseases exhibited associations with higher caregiver's self-esteem. Learning caregiving knowledge and skills was related to the caregiver's self-esteem. Providing opportunities for care knowledge and skill acquision may strenghen caregivers' positive perception of their role.
Noguchi et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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