Perception of unfamiliar caregivers during sickness - Using the new caregiver perception task (CgPT) during experimental endotoxemia

Social withdrawal is a well-established part of sickness behavior, but in some contexts sick animals might gain from keeping close instead of keeping away. For instance, sick individuals are more willing to be near known individuals who can provide care and safety (close others) compared to when healthy. Yet, interactions with some strangers might also be beneficial (i.e., healthcare professionals), but it is not known how sickness interplay with social behavior towards such individuals. Here, we assessed if sickness affects perception of caregivers and developed a new task, the Caregiver Perception Task (CgPT). Twenty-six participants conducted the CgPT, once after an injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 0.8 ng/kg body weight, n = 24), and once after an injection of saline (n = 25), one hour and forty-five minutes post-injection. During the task, participants watched short videeo-clips of three types of caregivers: a healthcare professional taking care of a sick individual (HP-c), a healthcare professional not taking care of a sick individual (HP-nc), and a non-healthcare professional taking care of their sick adult child or partner (NHP-c). After each videeo clip, the likability, trustworthiness, professionalism, and willingness to interact with and receive care from the caregiver were rated on visual analogue scales. Results showed that participants injected with saline rated healthcare professionals who did not take care of a sick individual less positively on all aspects compared to healthcare professionals who took care of a sick individual. Moreover, compared to saline, LPS increased the participants' willingness to receive care from healthcare professionals and non-healthcare professionals providing care, but not from healthcare professionals not providing care. Thus, our results indicate that sick individuals may approach unknown individuals with potential to provide care and support.