Idosos cuidadores de idosos em arranjos familiares com e sem a presença de crianças : sobrecarga, otimismo e estratégias de enfrentamento
Resumen
Changes in socio-cultural profiles added to increasing number in the elderly population
have favored the formation of new family compositions in the presence of elderly and
children. In this context the elderly has become known for taking care for other elderly
and children. This new configuration that has the elderly protagonist can take to an
excess of competing demands and induce burden, on contrary, the child's presence can
increase positive feelings such as optimism and assist in the choice of coping strategies.
This study aimed to compare the level of burden, optimism and coping strategies of
elderly caregivers of elderly residing with and without the presence of children. The
study was based on the quantitative method of research and all ethical guidelines were
followed. There were interviewed 301caregivers elderly registered in the Family Health
Units in a municipality in São Paulo state. The instruments used were: Scale
independence in activities of daily living Katz; Scale of instrumental activities of daily
living Lawton; Socio-demographic characterization of the child; Sociodemographic and
of care of elderly receivers care, sociodemographic and health conditions of the elderly
caregiver, Zarit Burden Intervew, Pinto Spirituality Scale and Pais-Ribeiro and
Inventory to assess coping strategies. For data analysis elderly caregivers were divided
into two groups G1 (residing without children) and G2 (living with children). The
results show that most of the children were male (52.6%) with a mean age of six.
Among elderly caregivers in both groups there was prevalence of woman (G1 = 74.3%;
G2 = 81.8%), the median age in G1 was 69 years and 65.5 years in G2. Among the
elderly care recepients, most were male (66.9% G1 = G2 = 77.3%) with a median age of
73 years in G1 and 69 years in G2. Elderly caregivers in G2 showed significantly higher
level of burden compared to G1 (p = 0.01). The level optimism was high for both groups
and there were no significant differences between them. In the analysis of coping
strategies elderly caregivers in G1 reported using more focused strategies in the
expression of negative emotions (p <0.01), religiosity (p = 0.01) and inhibition of
negative emotions (p = 0.01) compared to G2. The results reveal important data that
contribute the valiation of the elderly caregiver in an intergenerational context and can
support the planning of interventions for caregivers in primary care settings.