Cuidadores familiares de idosos: sobrecarga de trabalho e estratégias que utilizam para manter a saúde

Abstract

This study aims to investigate burden among family caregivers of elderly people and the strategies used by them to maintain the health and well-being of the long-lived person under their responsibility. Elderly care has become a public health issue and it is necessary to elucidate issues that permeate the elderly caregiver’s health. The present research is a cross-sectional quantitative field study, which was developed in a large hospital in the West of Santa Catarina. The random sample consisted of 123 family caregivers who accompanied the elders during hospitalization. The data were collected between November and December 2021 using three instruments: questionnaire to survey socioeconomic aspects; questionnaire to assess the measures used to maintain health; and the ZARIT scale that measures the elderly caregiver's burden. The method of assaying was descriptive univariate, obtaining the absolute and relative frequencies for each variable. Presentation of results was carried out using descriptive statistics with a study of symmetry using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The comparison of the ZARIT score, among two independent groups, was carried out using the t-Student test. In three or more groups the One Way–Post Hoc Sheffé Analysis of Variance was used. The association among categorical variables was investigated using Pearson's chi-square tests, with a significance level of 5%. The latest data received statistical treatment with the SSPS 21.0 software. The study showed a predominance of females (74%) and a mean age between 41 and 60 years (60.9%). The greatest burden occurred with houseworkers and retirees (36.6%). Those who didn’t perform leisure activities had severe overload (68.2%). Regarding the time available, those who classified them as bad (46.4%) presented moderate overload, and those who classified them as good (28.9) presented mild overload. Regarding dissatisfaction with life, those who reported being dissatisfied (45.5%) had severe overload, whereas those who reported being satisfied (100.0%) had mild overload. Thus, the overload of the elderly caregiver in home care is evident and it is negatively linked to issues of self-care, leisure practices, available time and level of satisfaction with life. It is hoped that this study will fill gaps on the burden of elderly caregivers in home care, providing opportunities for the implementation of public policies and actions aimed at the formal and emotional support of this group.