Motivations to care and health motivations: a qualitative study exploring the experience of family caregivers

Abstract

Background. The COM-B system adapted to family caregivers analyses health capability through capabilities, opportunities, and motivations. Focusing on motivations, this study investigated the motivations to be a family caregiver and the motivations to maintain one’s own health. Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 caregivers of stroke victims (France: n=8; Luxembourg: n=6; 50% male; age 63.6±10.1) about how they preserve their health and their resources to attain optimal health. Verbatims about their motivations to care for their relative and their motivation to maintain their own health were open-coded. Items were built and validated by consensus with an expert group. Findings. Motivations to care for a relative included the sense of duty, fear of guilt or deception, perceived need and feelings like love. The motivations to maintain personal health were intrinsic (self-; family-oriented), related to caregiving, and extrinsic (induced by relatives and material needs) and encompass amotivation. Discussion. It is relevant to integrate feelings, anticipated regret, moral norms and health value to the COM-B system adapted to family caregivers. Identifying their contribution to health capability will help orient psycho-educational interventions implementation.