Investigando a sobrecarga de cuidadores familiares de idosos hospitalizados: cuidando de quem cuida

Abstract

Family caregivers of elderly people, when providing assistance and care to their relatives in the process of hospitalization, often experience physical, emotional and relational overloads. The length of hospital stay, the dynamism and issues involving the environment tend to gradually compromise their occupational performance. The inclusion criteria for the research were participants who were over 18 years of age, who were providing care to hospitalized elderly people and who were their main caregivers - regardless of the pathological condition of the elderly person being cared for - and, as an exclusion criterion, participants over the age of 75 years of age and who were not providing care to hospitalized elderly people, thus respecting the ethical aspects referring to the resolution of the CNS (National Health Council) nº 466/2012 and approved by the Ethics Committee of the university hospital with CAA: 77782924.3.0000.5183 . Ten family caregivers of elderly people hospitalized in the outpatient clinic of a university hospital participated in the first half of 2024, with the participation of 8 women and 2 men, with ages ranging from 32 to 56 years old, and who were responsible for the care of the elderly regardless of their pathological condition. This was a quantitative and qualitative research, of a descriptive and investigative nature, with the application of four standardized instruments, as well as the Zarit Scale that seeks to evaluate the possibility of there being or not, overload events present in the routine of care of the participating interviewees, the WHOQOL-Breve which aims to understand the interviewees' conceptions about their quality of life, the Wheel of Life which aims at the satisfaction of these users with the areas of life and the List of Occupational Roles which investigates the roles experienced throughout life, as well as the importance of this role in their daily lives. In the case of overload, the results presented in the research show that around 50% of those interviewed are in a critical process of severe overload; regarding the perception about quality of life, 60% need to improve their occupational performance regarding their life components; Regarding satisfaction with areas of life, only 1% feel satisfied with “Work and Career”. Only 20% of respondents point out favorable satisfaction rates regarding their satisfaction with the 8 areas of life - made up of Health, Love, Social Life, Work and Career, Leisure, Intellect, Financial Life and Spirituality - where, in a total of 80 points expected to compose the maximum satisfaction stipulated by the instrument used, 68 and 69 points were scored, while 20% presented the lowest results compared to the total mentioned above, representing minimum satisfaction, scoring 33 and 41 points. Thus, it is concluded that caregivers of elderly people need attention from health professionals, specifically from Occupational Therapy, which, given the results presented in the research, shows how essential the role of the profession is towards these caregivers, seeking to observe, investigate and contribute to their social participation in an integral and functional way, since it is a profession endowed with knowledge about human development, life cycles and the areas that comprise it.