Ajustamento psicossocial dos cuidadores informais de pessoas com doença de alzheimer : uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

The study of the concept of psychosocial adjustment has been changing over time and gaining more and more importance in society, as has the concept of informal caregiver and its needs. Thus, the present review has as main objective to obtain a detailed description of informal caregivers of people with Alzheimer's Disease - characteristics, needs and impact on the quality of life that constitutes an answer to the task of caring and its consequences. For this purpose, the analysis of publications indexed in the main databases was used, namely B-on; PubMed; Scielo; Web of Science; Periodic Capes; Ebsco, Apa PsyInfo; and Google Scholar. The analysis of publications between 1994 and 2020 resulted in the inclusion of forty-one publications. It was possible to verify that there is a European and international interest in the investigation of informal caregivers. Of all the analyzed publications, it was found that the female gender is the most prevalent in informal caregivers, presenting high levels of overload, anxiety and depression, having a great impact on their health and quality of life. To suppress this negative effect, it is necessary to adopt psychosocial adjustment techniques. The most frequently used strategies are psychoeducational interventions, coping strategies focused on emotion and support groups. It is concluded that the conception and development of psychosocial responses to support the needs of caregivers are fundamental to well-being, and it is important to promote modalities that enable the caregiver to rest. In this review, some suggestions are presented, namely in terms of prevention / intervention, emphasizing the responses to needs, the therapeutic work that focuses on coping strategies and, mainly, the interpretation / meaning that is given to the act of caring in order to reduce the overload of caregivers.

Date of Award	2021
Original language	Portuguese
Supervisor	Maria Teresa Soares Souto (Supervisor)