Today, one in five French people say they provide voluntary assistance to one or more loved ones who are dependent due to old age or a serious, chronic or disabling illness. Here’s what the July 2021 Caregiver Barometer conducted by the April Insurance Fund shows. And yet, 52% of these 11 million caregivers don’t see themselves as such. “In their eyes, what they do is a ‘natural’ moral duty to a husband, father or mother.” explains Cindy Melier, a psychologist specializing in the aging clinic.
All too often, therefore, we slip into the shoes of a caregiver without envisioning the conditions for that support or thinking about the consequences it will have on our life, health, or relationship with a loved one. “It is very difficult to predict how we will help a person who is close to us but different from us in the future, emphasizes Dr. Philip Thomas, a psychiatrist. Also, there is resistance to this help. What…
Source: Le Figaro
