Emotion Work in Family Caregiving for Persons with Dementia

Abstract

Emotion work enhances emotional well-being and emotional support in relationships between two people. Emotion work is a part of family work but has not been described in the context of caring for a family member with dementia. Content analysis applied to 11 interviews of informal caregivers describing their interactions with a person with dementia resulted in four categories of emotion work: (1) managing feelings, (2) weighing options, (3) being parental, and (4) ensuring emotional well-being. Caregivers performed emotion work to meet the feeling rules of being a good caregiver, but often with emotional dissonance between the caregivers’ true feelings.