Quality of life, burden, family emotional support: a model for older adults who are caregivers

Abstract

Objective: To investigate associations between quality of life, sex, age, burden, and nature of emotional support available in the family in older adults who are caregivers of older relatives. Method: Cross-sectional and correlational study on 148 caregivers gathered in public and private healthcare services, who were subjected to psychological measures of quality of life, burden, exchange of emotional support, sex, and age. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test and path analyses (p < 0.05). Results: A total of 77% women, average age of 69.7 years. There were significant associations between exchange of support and burden due to the provided assistance, being a woman and satisfaction with the received support, satisfaction with the received support and burden, burden and quality of life, and satisfaction with the received support and feeling of burden due to the provided support. Conclusion: Satisfaction with the received emotional support moderate the association between sex and burden, and such moderate the association between satisfaction with emotional support and perceived quality of life.

Vivências subjetivas de familiares que cuidam de idosos dependentes

“…Esse problema não é restrito ao Brasil. Investigação realizada no Canadá encontrou que maridos, esposas e filhos que não escolhem cuidar da pessoa dependente em casa apresentam pior bem-estar psicológico quando comparados com familiares que assumiram cuidar 28 .…”

“…A percepção social do trabalho executado pelo cuidador tem dois lados de invisibilidade e minusvalia: de um, é exigido que ele tenha responsabilidade ética e moral no cumprimento do silencioso contrato familiar; de outro, socialmente, sua atividade não é reconhecida como trabalho. Assim, além da sobrecarga emocional, física e psíquica, o cuidador frequentemente é visto como ocioso, que se esquiva do trabalho de verdade, particularmente se for homem 28 . Esse problema é mencionado também na literatura internacional.…”

Vivências Subjetivas De Familiares Que Cuidam De Idosos Dependentes

“…This problem is not restricted to Brazil. An investigation carried out in Canada found that husbands, wives, and children who do not choose care for the dependent person at home have worse psychological well-being than relatives who have assumed the provision of care 28 .…”

“…The social perception of the work carried out by caregivers has two sides of invisibility and handicap: on the one hand, they should have an ethical and moral responsibility in fulfilling the silent family contract; on the other, socially, their activity is not recognized as work. Thus, besides emotional, physical, and psychological overload, caregivers are often seen as idle, shying away from "real" work, mainly if they are men 28 . This problem is also mentioned in the international literature.…”

Factors associated with symptoms of physical and emotional burden in informal caregivers of the elderly

“…Factors related to work, such as the functional capacity of the elderly, high workload in caring activities, insufficient guidance, inadequate postures when providing care, among others, can interfere in this balance, generating a set of physical and emotional symptoms, characterized by emotional exhaustion, negative feelings, isolation, and symptoms of musculoskeletal pain, resulting from the overload of the activity of caring for an elder (3)(4) .…”