Chapter 7: Family Caregivers and Cardiovascular Disease: An Intersectional Approach to Good Health and Wellbeing

Family caregivers provide home care services to family members and friends in need of care, without financial compensation. Services include assistance with transportation, meal preparation and clean-up, house cleaning and maintenance, laundry, personal care, and assistance with finances. Cardiovascular disease comprises disorders and conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels; it is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The epidemiology of cardiovascular disease has changed on an international level – an ageing population with cardiovascular disease combined with an increasing need for unpaid caregiving. This increased need for unpaid caregiving increases the risk for cardiovascular disease in family caregivers and this increased risk varies by sex and gender, age, race and ethnicity, environment, and geography. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the experiences and outcomes of family caregivers in relation to cardiovascular disease. It will discuss in detail the experiences and outcomes (e.g., health and wellbeing) of family caregivers in relation to cardiovascular disease. In addition, recommended supports and interventions to maintain cardiovascular health in the family caregiver will be provided. An intersectionality lens will allow us to systematically examine factors that affect the cardiovascular health and wellbeing of family caregivers simultaneously – to examine the complex interactions of sex and gender, age, race and ethnicity, environment, and geography to caregiver wellbeing.