Cuidador informal de idosos dependentes: impacto dos cuidados prestados no seu cotidiano.

Abstract

The aging population is a worldwide phenomenon and the intensity of that growth has risen steadily, which has led to increased life expectancy and the incidence of chronic diseases that, in most cases, compromise their autonomy and carries a higher demand for care for caregivers. In the family happens to provide informal care of the elderly, which mostly function is performed by a single person - "primary caregiver" - where the burden of care leads to face several crises. We sought to assess the impact that the care provided by informal caregivers for the frail elderly, because in their daily covering the physical, emotional and social. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional quantitative approach carried out in the municipality of Cajazeiras in the interior of Paraíba, belonging to 9 Microrregião Health A questionnaire was used to characterize the socio-demographic data of the caregivers and the assessment of overload scale was used to Zarit. The analysis and interpretation of data were conducted using Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The data showed that the majority of caregivers were female, aged between 45 years and above 65 years. And mostly performed related tasks within the home, and provide over 12 hours of daily care. It was also observed that the majority of caregivers were their own family. It was also found that 93% of caregivers had an overload or moderate. Soon, you realize that analyze the level of caregiver burden is exterma importance because excess burden can compromise both as caregivers who care and interfere with family relationships. Thus we see, that there is no overhead, the care provided will be more suitable.