The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties
Introduction: Family is considered the main support of the elderly in a situation of dependency. Caregiving often results in overloading, leading to diverse problems. Aim: To evaluate the self-perception of the family caregiver’s overload and the strategies used to provide informal care to the depen...
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doaj-3d310a24fe1c4e6c93cf880ceafcc7882020-11-25T00:13:19ZengUniversidade de ÉvoraRIASE2183-66632183-66632017-08-013298299810.24902/r.riase.2017.3(2).982The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with DifficultiesLisete dos Santos Mendes Mónico0Joana Rita André Custódio1António Antunes Frazão2Pedro Parreira3Ana Ramos4Sara Correia5César Fonseca6Professora Auxiliar na Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra, PortugalMestre em Psicologia; Leiria, PortugalProfessor Auxiliar do ISLA - Instituto Superior de Leiria, PortugalProfessor Adjunto da Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, PortugalPhD Student, Enfermeira no Centro Hospitalar Médio Tejo, EPE, PortugalPhD, Enfermeira no Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, PortugalProfessor Adjunto Universidade de Évora, PortugalIntroduction: Family is considered the main support of the elderly in a situation of dependency. Caregiving often results in overloading, leading to diverse problems. Aim: To evaluate the self-perception of the family caregiver’s overload and the strategies used to provide informal care to the dependent elderly considering their level of dependence. Method: The sample consisted of 21 children, 16 spouses, and nine other relatives of elderly dependents who responded to the Caregiver’s Overload Scale (Sequeira, 2007), the Portuguese version of Caregivers’ Assessment Management Index (CAMI, Nolan, Keady, & Grant, 1995) and the Barthel Index (Mahoney & Barthel, 1965). Results: The Barthel Index showed 34.8% of the elderly as severely dependent and 37.0% as totally dependent. The care most provided respected to medication, hygiene, food, and monitoring. Above 56.5% of the caregivers had an intense overload, both at the objective (impact of care and interpersonal relationship) and subjective (F3-Expectations regarding care and F4-Perceived self-efficacy) levels. The main reason for maintaining caregivers was family/personal obligation (95.7%). Caregivers reasonably assessed the effectiveness of their strategies in dealing with their dependent elderly (CAMI; M = 101.0, SD = 15.0). There was a negative relationship between the perception of the caregiver’s overload and the age and health status of the elderly, as well as between the number of strategies used by the caregiver to overcome difficulties and the self-perception of the overload. Conclusion: The multiplicity of daily tasks performed in support of a family member in a situation of severe dependence translates into situations of intense overload, negatively impacting on care, interpersonal relationship, expectations regarding caring, and perception of self-efficacy of care.http://www.revistas.uevora.pt/index.php/saude_envelhecimento/article/view/210Family caregiverinformal caregiverdependent elderlyoverloadcoping strategies. |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lisete dos Santos Mendes Mónico Joana Rita André Custódio António Antunes Frazão Pedro Parreira Ana Ramos Sara Correia César Fonseca |
spellingShingle |
Lisete dos Santos Mendes Mónico Joana Rita André Custódio António Antunes Frazão Pedro Parreira Ana Ramos Sara Correia César Fonseca The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties RIASE Family caregiver informal caregiver dependent elderly overload coping strategies. |
author_facet |
Lisete dos Santos Mendes Mónico Joana Rita André Custódio António Antunes Frazão Pedro Parreira Ana Ramos Sara Correia César Fonseca |
author_sort |
Lisete dos Santos Mendes Mónico |
title |
The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties |
title_short |
The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties |
title_full |
The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties |
title_fullStr |
The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Family in Care for the Elderly: Managing the Overload and Coping with Difficulties |
title_sort |
family in care for the elderly: managing the overload and coping with difficulties |
publisher |
Universidade de Évora |
series |
RIASE |
issn |
2183-6663 2183-6663 |
publishDate |
2017-08-01 |
description |
Introduction: Family is considered the main support of the elderly in a situation of dependency. Caregiving often results in overloading, leading to diverse problems. Aim: To evaluate the self-perception of the family caregiver’s overload and the strategies used to provide informal care to the dependent elderly considering their level of dependence. Method: The sample consisted of 21 children, 16 spouses, and nine other relatives of elderly dependents who responded to the Caregiver’s Overload Scale (Sequeira, 2007), the Portuguese version of Caregivers’ Assessment Management Index (CAMI, Nolan, Keady, & Grant, 1995) and the Barthel Index (Mahoney & Barthel, 1965). Results: The Barthel Index showed 34.8% of the elderly as severely dependent and 37.0% as totally dependent. The care most provided respected to medication, hygiene, food, and monitoring. Above 56.5% of the caregivers had an intense overload, both at the objective (impact of care and interpersonal relationship) and subjective (F3-Expectations regarding care and F4-Perceived self-efficacy) levels. The main reason for maintaining caregivers was family/personal obligation (95.7%). Caregivers reasonably assessed the effectiveness of their strategies in dealing with their dependent elderly (CAMI; M = 101.0, SD = 15.0). There was a negative relationship between the perception of the caregiver’s overload and the age and health status of the elderly, as well as between the number of strategies used by the caregiver to overcome difficulties and the self-perception of the overload. Conclusion: The multiplicity of daily tasks performed in support of a family member in a situation of severe dependence translates into situations of intense overload, negatively impacting on care, interpersonal relationship, expectations regarding caring, and perception of self-efficacy of care. |
topic |
Family caregiver informal caregiver dependent elderly overload coping strategies. |
url |
http://www.revistas.uevora.pt/index.php/saude_envelhecimento/article/view/210 |
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