OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of a psychoeducational program aimed at family caregivers of elders with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in relation to assessments of these caregivers about the benefits and burdens of care METHOD: Family caregivers of elderly patients (n=21) participating in a psychoeducational group were interviewed before and after the intervention, consisting of 15 sessions, for two hours weekly. The following instruments were used: plug sociodemographic characteristics of the participant; script to evaluate the context of care; Inventory of Burden and Benefits of the Care, encompassing the psychological, social and physical domains. RESULTS: Caregivers reported an increase of positive responses in the psychological and social domains on the perception of the situation to take care after participation in the group. By comparing the values that correspond to the differences between pre-and post-test of the psychological, social and physical domains between sex, age, income, length of conviviality and kinship, it was observed that there was no statistically significant difference. However, male caregivers, over the age of 60 and those who cared for more than 12 months showed benefits in more areas; 90% of spousal caregivers did not share the task of care and 80% of siblings, grandchildren and nephews caregivers shared this task with someone. These were presented to the increased perception of benefits in all areas evaluated. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that a psychoeducational intervention can contribute to positive evaluation of caregivers on the situation of caring within psychological and social. However, it seems not to work with reduced physical burden perceived by caregivers.
Caregivers; Family Health; Behavioral Medicine; Alzheimer Disease; Well-Being; Psychoeducational
