Perfil sociodemográfico de cuidadores familiares de pacientes dependentes atendidos por uma unidade de saúde da família no município de São Paulo

DOI:10.15343/0104-7809.201012024

Abstract

With the increase of life expectancy, the number of individuals with chronic and degenerative diseases, which may cause
incapacity and dependence, is growing. Home care of a relative with functional losses and dependence may affect negatively family
dynamics and overloads the one responsible for care. The aim of this study was to describe the socio-demographic profile and the family
structure of family carers of dependent patients cared by teams of Family Health from a Basic Health Unit of the city of São Paulo and
to characterize the patients they care for. It is a transversal, descriptive, quantitative study whose subjects were 67 non-remunerated
dependent patients’ family carers with at least 16 years old that cared at the time for more than two months. An instrument was elaborated
for socio-demographic characterization. Results show that most (92.5%) carers were female, with an average age of 54.7 years
old, 71.6% reported some kind of health problem and 59.7% said they did not receive instructions from the health teams on care centers.
From the 69 dependent patients, 55.1% were male, with an average age of 58.8 years old, predominantly with circulatory diseases
(29.7%). Amongst the families, 50.7% did not receive aid when they needed and 71.6% reported a good relationship with the patient.
Results corroborate the findings of the literature on the dominant profile of family carers. Knowing their profile may contribute for the
adoption of intervention strategies for providing for their health necessities.