Making it work: Supporting informal caregivers in balancing paid work, personal life and informal care

In the Netherlands, one in four people with paid employment combines their work with informal caregiving responsibilities. Currently, there are approximately 2 million working individuals who also provide informal care, and this number continues to grow. This increase is largely driven by an aging population, leading to a rising demand for care and a greater need for informal caregiving from family members and friends. At the same time, people are expected to work until older age. These developments place a double burden on working caregivers, who must balance their paid employment with caregiving responsibilities. Although many people manage to combine work and caregiving successfully and find fulfillment in these roles, it also comes with challenges. Combining work and caregiving can pose health risks, including physical and mental strain, and can impact caregivers' overall well-being. This not only affects their health but also their ability to participate in the workforce. Finding and maintaining a good balance between work, personal life, and caregiving is therefore essential. Support for working caregivers is important in helping them sustain their responsibilities without compromising their own well-being. However, there is still limited knowledge about how working caregivers can combine their multiple responsibilities in a way that promotes sustained well-being and what forms of support would best meet their needs. Additionally, there is a lack of research on interventions aimed at supporting working caregivers, resulting in a knowledge gap regarding how best to assist them in achieving and maintaining a healthy balance.The overall aim of this thesis was to explore how to support working caregivers, enabling them to sustainably balance their roles in both informal care and the workforce while maintaining good health. Supporting the large and growing group of working caregivers in the Netherlands requires an approach that considers various factors, contexts, and stakeholders. Effectively supporting working caregivers necessitates an integrated approach, with close collaboration across sectors such as work, healthcare, and the family domain. Working caregivers have diverse needs, such as greater recognition for their caregiving role, opportunities to share care responsibilities, assistance with organizing care, and understanding and support from their work environment. To address these needs and offer tailored support, the Participatory Approach (PA) can be implemented in the workplace. The PA was designed to help employees find and maintain a healthy balance between work and caregiving responsibilities. This is achieved by identifying and implementing improvements both at work and in their personal and caregiving situations. Although findings from this dissertation indicate that the PA did not improve work-life balance, the intervention did result in a significant increase in perceived support from supervisors. This included the ability to discuss informal caregiving at work, receiving understanding, and assistance in finding solutions for balancing work, private life, and caregiving duties. Caregivers also reported other benefits from the PA, such as greater insight into their priorities and behaviors, increased reassurance and sense of control, and recognition of their role as caregivers. While we found no improvements in work-life balance, the PA appeared to help caregivers in taking initial steps toward addressing and preventing issues in balancing work and caregiving. This could yield long-term benefits. Therefore, employers are encouraged to consider implementing the PA. However, further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of the PA for different types of caregivers. Moreover, to ensure that working caregivers use and fully benefit from the PA, employers should foster a supportive culture that normalizes and promotes proactive discussions about caregiving responsibilities and work-life balance.