Caregiving in the Illness Context

With more and more people of all ages living with chronic illnesses, greater numbers of family and friends become caregivers. A major focus of health professionals and scientists is to maximize quality of life among those living with illness and those caring for them. As health care systems around the world become limited in what people can afford, informal supports – primarily family and close friends – are being called on to care for ill people. Yet, the task of providing care takes a toll on caregivers' health and well-being, including depression, social and family strains, increased physical illness, and diminished quality of life. Caregiving in the Illness Context synthesizes current research and brings attention to how personal, social and structural factors affect caregivers and how the research literature has informed emerging interventions to help caregivers.

Tracey A Revenson is Professor of Psychology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA. She has authored ten volumes, including the Handbook of Health Psychology and Couples Coping with Stress. She is Senior Associate Editor of Annals of Behavioral Medicine and received the Nathan Perry Award for Career Contributions to Health Psychology in 2013.

Konstadina Griva is Associate Professor of Health Psychology at National University of Singapore (NUS). She is a chartered Psychologist and health services researcher whose research examines chronic disease management and measurement.

Aleksandra Luszczynska is Professor of Psychology at the University of Social Sciences & Humanities, Poland, and Associate Research Professor at the Trauma, Health, & Hazards Center, University of Colorado, USA. She is past president of the Health Psychology Division of the International Association of Applied Psychology and is the editor-in-chief of Anxiety, Stress, & Coping.

Valerie Morrison is a Chartered Psychologist and Professor of Health Psychology at Bangor University, UK, where she is also College Lead for Research with Impact. She is co-author of a leading European textbook, An Introduction to Health Psychology.

Efharis Panagopoulou was trained as a health psychologist at Leiden University, The Netherlands. She received a European Leadership Grant to return to Greece to study stress and emotions in healthcare. She is currently the Director of the Personal and Professional Development Program of the Medical School of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Noa Vilchinsky is the Director of the Psychocardiology Research Lab, Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat- Gan, Israel. Dr. Vilchinsky is also a certified rehabilitation psychologist and teaches in the Rehabilitation Psychology track for graduate students at the Psychology department of Bar-Ilan University.

Mariet Hagedoorn is Professor in the Department of Health Psychology at the University Medical Center, University of Groningen (UMCG), in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on couples coping with illness.