Alzheimer’s desease: challenges faced by family caregivers

Abstract

Gaps identified in Brazilian health policies and the need to develop and implement strategies for the empowerment and monitoring of family caregivers support the development of care proposals aimed at the family. The present study aimed to analyze the challenges faced by family members providing day to day care of patients with Alzheimer's disease in the city of Chapecó, Santa Catarina. The method employed was the qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews. The speeches were grouped, categorized and analyzed using the hermeneutic method. The results showed that during the period of Alzheimer's disease, caregivers experience a range of situations, including: a need to learn about the disease; dealing with guilt; and handling situations of pain, addiction and physical and psychological suffering. In conclusion the study described the challenges of the daily lives of these families, explaining the importance of and highlighting the need to adopt tools and strategies that provide physical, emotional, psychological and financial support to family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Sobrecarga do cuidador informal de idosos com alzheimer em um município do Paraná

“…Nesta pesquisa observa-se a prevalência de mulheres, dado também evidenciado em outros estudos, sendo a mulher provedora do cuidado em seu domicílio, podendo estar suscetível a uma sobrecarga de estresse e doenças psicológicas, como a depressão e a ansiedade, além de acarretar negativamente sua saúde física, levando ao adoecimento (10,6) .…”

“…Uma participante tem como profissão a advocacia, no entanto, atualmente ela não exerce devido ao tempo de cuidado que seu familiar necessita. Como visto, em muitos casos há limitações na vida profissional decorrentes da necessidade de estar cuidando do seu familiar (6,7) .…”

Online behavior of the alzheimer's disease patient caregivers on croatian online discussion forum

“…A multi-stage content analysis was conducted. In the first stage of the analysis, a set of initial codes was derived from the existing literature, in particular based on the coding schemes developed in Edelman et al (2006), Kucmanski et al (2016), Novais et al (2017), Wackerbarth and Johnson (2001), Wancata et al (2005), Whitlatch and Orsulic-Jeras (2018), and Zwaanswijk et al (2013) whose coding models focused on information, service, and support needs of AD patient CGs. In our study, all initial posts (83 total) were coded using this initial coding scheme both to evaluate their value and to identify missing codes.…”

“…The examination of relevant literature in English and Croatian reveals general agreement that AD, in the words of Marc Wortmann, is as much an economic and fiscal disaster as it is a social and health challenge, and that its impact on societies with an increasingly aging population is growing dramatically (Alzheimer's Disease International, 2012). This presumption has led scholars from around the world to address the diverse needs of AD patients and their informal CGs (Edelman et al, 2006), and also to explore unmet needs (e.g., Lai & Chung, 2007;Tatangelo et al, 2018), support and service utilization (Lethin et al, 2016), and challenges and barriers CGs experience when caring for their family members diagnosed with AD (e.g., Arévalo-Flechas et al, 2014;Brodaty & Donkin, 2009;Kucmanski et al, 2016;Rosa et al, 2009;Uzun et al, 2019;Vaingankar et al, 2013) in order to maximize service utilization by CGs and minimize their burden.…”

Health literacy for caregivers of elders with alzheimer’s disease

“…With aging, there are physiological changes that increase the vulnerability of the elder. When associated to pathologies, these can lead to functional losses, demanding especial care and more knowledge from the caregiver about the specificities of the elder (2) .…”