Effects of Activities on the Psychological Well-Being of Caregivers of Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Given that approximately 41.8 million Americans provide unpaid care to older adults and caregiving roles are often associated with decreased well-being, it is critical to identify strategies to maximize their well-being. The purpose of this review was to explore which activities significantly improve well-being among caregivers of older adults. A systematic literature review was conducted using PsycINFO and 24 research articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. Eight cohesive activity categories were identified: Social (n = 5), Psychoeducation (n = 3), Arts/entertainment in the home (n = 2), Psychotherapy (n = 5), Religious/Spiritual (n = 4), Multimodal (n = 4), Physical (n = 5), and Arts/entertainment outside the home (n = 2). Findings suggest that caregivers of older adults should seek opportunities for engagement in meaningful activities, particularly social, psychoeducational activities, arts/entertainment activities in the home, which showed positive impacts, as well as psychotherapy, religious/spiritual, multimodal, and physical activities, which showed mixed impacts on caregivers' psychological well-being.