Providing Care From Afar: A Growing Yet Understudied Phenomenon in the Caregiving Field

Given the aging population and increasing life expectancy, the need on the part of older and ill populations for long-term care has risen rapidly (Roth et al., 2015). As a result, unpaid informal care is becoming even more important for health and social care delivery worldwide. Informal care refers to the provision of unpaid care to a relative or friend with a chronic illness, disability, or other long-lasting health needs (Revenson et al., 2016). A substantial body of literature has documented the psychosocial and physical consequences of the caregiving role. Recent studies have reported caregiver burden and strain as a multidimensional response to the psychological, physical, and financial stressors associated with the caregiving experience (Chiao et al., 2015; Faronbi et al., 2019). Emotional distress, anxiety, and impaired self-care are also commonplace among caregivers, attributed to the caregiving demands engendered by the care recipient's illness (Schulz et al., 2008; Bauer and Sousa-Poza, 2015).