Habilidades sociais e de enfrentamento de estresse em cuidadoras que assistem idosas acamadas, com ou sem demência

Abstract

According to the authors of a meta-analysis based on 127 studies reporting the effects of interventions conducted with caregivers of an elderly person with dementia, efforts to help these eldercare providers appear to have been largely ineffective in strengthening the caregivers and in reducing their sense of burden. However, improvements in the caregivers abilities to handle their eldercare involvements were not evaluated. As such, the objectives of this study included: (a) identify abilities that may be important for someone who cares for an elderly person who has dementia, focusing on the use of social skills (SS) and coping skills (CS), (b) investigate the relationships among SS and CS, and perceived burden and relationship quality, and (c) identify the caregivers unmet needs. Participants included 20 elder-caregiver dyads (women only); all the elders were bedridden and highly dependent. Their caregivers were in one of two situations: caregivers of bedridden elders with normal cognitive functioning (GL; n = 10), or caregivers of bedridden elders with dementia (GD; n = 10). During individual interviews conducted in their own home, the caregivers responded to a reduced version of the Social Skills Inventory, a reduced version of the Ways of Coping Checklist, the Family Needs Evaluation, the Caregiver Burden Interview, and the Dyadic Relationship Scale. The frequency with which the caregivers used different kinds of SS and CS was compared using Student s t-test for groups of items, and non-parametric tests for individual items. Pearson s bivariate correlation procedure was used to examine the relationships between the frequency with which the caregivers used SS and CS, and their perceptions of burden and of the quality of the relationship between themselves and their elderly relative. In addition, the number of caregivers in each context who expressed needs for assistance was compared using Chisquared analyses. It was observed that the caregivers in the GD and GL were highly similar with respect to the quality of the relationship between the caregiver and the elderly care recipient, but the GD caregivers reported higher levels of burden. With respect to their use of SS and CS, the caregivers in each context presented more similarities than differences, but there were a few differences between the two groups. A greater frequency of use of these skills was associated with lower levels of relationship conflict, and with lower levels of burden. In terms of their needs, a greater proportion of the GD than the GL caregivers indicated that they needed more assistance from others and greater access to community-based services. In sum, based on a comparison between female caregivers assisting bedridden elderly relatives who were either lucid or who had dementia, it was possible to detect certain differences that arise among those who care for an elderly relative with dementia, along with many similarities between these two contexts, which can guide the development and evaluation of new interventions.