Caring for family caregivers: An analysis of a family-centered intervention

Abstract

Objective To assess the effectiveness of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) on family caregivers through the use of scales to measure anxiety, depression and emotional distress; and to explore facilitating factors and obstacles for its use based on the narrative of nurses. Method A clinical trial and an exploratory focus group with the use of mixed analysis methodology. The study was conducted in a primary health care center in Tarragona, Spain, and the sample consisted of 122 family caregivers who were included in the home care service, and 10 nurses who participated in the intervention group. Family caregivers with evident symptoms of anxiety, depression and emotional distress received PST in the intervention group. The intervention group also consisted of a discussion with eight nurses, which was transcribed and submitted to content analysis. Conclusion Problem-Solving Therapy proved to be effective in reducing perceived anxiety, depression and emotional distress. We identified its strong points and obstacles as described by nurses.

Family caregivers: what do they need? An integrative review

“…It is crucial to take advantage of this diagnosis, in order to introduce changes in the approach to caregivers, thereby facilitating their role in the family environment. Providing this attention to caregivers will promote personal and family health for dependents cared for at home (20) .…”

Quotidian of accompanying family members in an environment of care: the emergence of hospital tribes

“…In this sense, we found that disease and disability are experiences that represent one of the main challenges to families. The psychosocial problems caused by a person with dependence has impact on the whole family system (7) . The hospital environment/space has its meaning established through the values and beliefs of a culture.…”

“…The imagery corresponds to this world of meanings, ideas, fantasies, evocation of figures perceived or not, beliefs, and values where the human being is immersed (8) . A hospital environment involves linkages, accountability, and compassion (7) . In this way, changing the relations in these spaces is joined with the intrinsic characteristics of the environment that is on the baseline of knowledge and emotional phenomena, in a situation where one is connected to the other and, at the same time, lives with the other, where everything is dependent and interdependent, in an empathic relation.…”

“…In this context, caring is not an overload, but giving the self (7) , in a strong aesthetic or empathic load that connotes an organic want-to-live, like a set potency, a tribal vitalism (5) . A living can be grounded on the communion found in small modulations, in a flexible crossing of several circles that, when articulated, build up the figures of sociality, the religiosity.…”

Estresse e coping em familiares de pacientes no transoperatório de cirurgia cardíaca Stress and coping among patients’ relatives in the transoperative of cardiac surgery

“…And that caregiver's female profile is a reality in different countries, as pointed out by a study conducted in Tarragona, Spain: mostly women assume the role of family caregivers of patients, which puts them at high risk, stress and uncertainties, needing for support in their work. 15 In this context, it's highlighted the role of the family, considered key piece in the patient's recovery process after cardiac surgery, both during hospitalization and in the post-discharge, by being the main source of information and emotional bond with the patient -helping him to face insecurity and experienced stress. This therapeutic relationship can be maximized when there is an interest on the part of health professionals to value the emotional relationship between the family and the patient.…”