Informal caregivers of dependent old people: difficulties and self-efficacy Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Taking care of elderly at home is not an easy task and involves physical, psychological, social and economic consequences for which the informal caregiver is not often ready, and in an attempt to fulfil his role, he compromises his well- being and his household. Objectives: To assess the difficulties faced by informal caregivers in the municipality of Mirandela and the level of self-efficacy for the performance of his role as caregiver. Material and methods: Descriptive, analytical and cross-sectional study, applying a questionnaire to a non-probabilistic sample of 50 informal caregivers which included the Barthel and Lawton & Brody indexes to assess dependency of the elderly and the Carers’ Assessment of Difficulties Índex (CADI) (Nolan, Grant, & Keady, 1998, Brito, 2002) and an adaptation of “The Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy” developed by Mata (2012). Results: Among caregivers prevailed the married women, daughters of dependent elderly with low education and with an average age of 57.04 years? We also conclude that caregivers showed average scores higher than the theoretical average in the global Index of difficulties and in every factor. Regarding self-efficacy, it was concluded that caregivers showed to have average levels in the global of scale and its dimensions, except in self-efficacy to obtain respite with the social network of friends where the evidenced levels were low. There was also a negative linear relationship between self-efficacy and difficulties, revealing that the higher the level of self-efficacy the lower are the perceived caregiver’s difficulties (b = 0.438). Conclusions: Results lead us to the need of more health, social and educational support both to informal caregivers and the cared person.

publication date

  • January 1, 2014