Percepção e perfil dos cuidadores na abordagem dos pacientes em cuidado paliativos: um estudo transversal

Abstract

Objective: Analyze the caregiver profile of the patient with/without advanced therapy and/or in the final phase, according to age, level of education and relationship with the patient, as also the level of knowledge and needs of caregivers. Method: It is an observational cross-sectional analytical study. The study was conducted in the Palliative Care Ward Saulo Suassuna Professor on Hospital Pedro II of IMIP. Results: The sample was composed of 10 caregivers, all women, average age of 46 ± 7.32 years old. The relationship degree betteween caregiver and patient showed that the relatives are more present in the care of the patient. All caregivers interviewed showed knowledge about which professionals should be part of the palliative care team and low knowledge about what activities or how each of these professionals participate in the palliative care of the patient however. Conclusion: We may conclude that there is a long gap in communication between staff - family/caregiver. Therefore, this research allows for more discussions about the subject, for instance the training and continuous improvement that the informal family caregiver should receive through health professionals and the physical and mental depreciation of caregivers due to the high overload of activities and/or hours dedicated to the patient.