<p>Propõe-se identificar e descrever as percepções de familiares sobre o cuidado ao idoso hospitalizado. É um estudo transversal clínico-qualitativo e a coleta de dados aconteceu em um hospital de urgência e emergência por 30 dias em julho de 2013, finalizada quando atingiu a saturação das respostas. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com aplicação dos seguintes instrumentos: perguntas fechadas para caracterização do perfil sociodemográfico da população; semi-abertas para identificar a percepção dos cuidadores familiares sobre o processo de cuidado durante a hospitalização; e aplicação do instrumento Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) para identificar a percepção dos participantes quanto à importância atribuída às principais atividades que realiza, à sua atuação e à sua satisfação com tal atuação no cuidado ao idoso hospitalizado. A amostra contou com 25 cuidadores familiares que destacaram: sentimentos ambivalentes ao prestar os cuidados; dimensões objetivas e subjetivas do cuidado; vantagens e desvantagens de cuidar em casa e no hospital e reflexões sobre o papel de cuidador. O cuidado ao idoso é uma tarefa complexa,<br />especialmente no contexto hospitalar. Ações voltadas para o cuidador familiar deve ser prática comum das equipes.<br /><br /></p>

This is a qualitative study that sought to understand the way in which oldest older adults perceive and deal with pain during activities of daily living. We interviewed 32 Brazilian older adults 80 years and older participating in the international multicenter study of Back Complaints in the Elderly. The following categories emerged from the content analysis: “The constant experience of pain,” “Understanding pain,” and “Performing daily living activities in pain.” Although pain is a constant experience and understood as something inherent to aging and difficult to explain, many older adults continue to perform daily activities while in pain and/or despite pain.

Background Family caregivers are primarily responsible for the care of older adults with dementia, and the demands of this care increase as the end of life approaches. Experiencing the end of a family member’s life can be stressful, and caregivers consider important to know how to identify when their loved one is approaching the end of life in order to prepare for this moment. Thus, as the family is primarily responsible for the older adult with dementia, it is essential to know the meanings of the end of life attributed by family caregivers. Objective To analyze the perceptions of family caregivers of older adults with dementia about the end of life. Methods This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study. The convenience sample consisted of family caregivers of older adults with dementia. The inclusion criteria were being a family member directly involved in the care of the older adult with dementia and being 18 years of age or older. Data were collected from individual semi-structured interviews. The number of participants was defined during the interviews using the saturation criterion. Data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique. Results A total of 63 family caregivers participated, 74.6% of whom were women, predominantly wives and daughters. Two themes resulted from the data analysis: (i) Different perspectives on the end of life: from death itself to a sad, painful and long grief process; and (ii) End of life in the perspective of transcendence. The meaning of the end of life was perceived in different ways by family caregivers. Understanding how they perceive and experience the end-of-life process of the older adult with dementia helps to clarify the best ways for the health professionals to approach and intervene with these families.

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