Older adults caring for other older adults: a study on burden and frailty

• Grant number: 20/07919-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date until: November 01, 2020
• End date until: October 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Public Health Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Ariene Angelini dos Santos Orlandi
• Grantee: Marcela Naiara Graciani Fumagale Macedo
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

A treatment task can appear, without any prior preparation or support, resulting in an intense burden, especially for older adult caregivers. Scholars claim that this psychological tension can culminate in the development of frailty. Both burden and frailty can affect the quality of life of those involved and interfere with the quality of care offered, especially in contexts of high social vulnerability. With early identification of conditions, it may be possible to reduce spending on health services and improve the quality of these people's life. Objective: to analyze a relationship between the burden and frailty of elderly caregivers taking care of older adults. Method: cross-sectional and quantitative study, will be accomplished in a city in the interior of São Paulo. Approach a larger study, qualify elderly people aged 60 or over, registered in USFs that take care of the elderly (n ± 120). Candidates for inclusion will be: to be elderly's primary caregivers; to be a family member of the elderly cared for; informally perform the care task; living with elderly people, and be registered in a USF inserted in a context of high social vulnerability. Those who have communication difficulties due to hearing and/ or visually impaired seriously will be excluded. The data will be collected at the home of the elderly's caregiver, from January to April / 2021, by trained students, with the following instruments: questionnaire for the characterization of the elderly caregiver and the elderly's context, Zarit overload inventory and the frailty phenotype studied by Linda Fried. Descriptive and correlational analyzes will be performed. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test will be used to check the adherence or not of the normal distribution of variables and to define the use of parametric or non-parametric tests. The significance level adopted will be 5% (p <0.05).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARCELA NAIARA GRACIANI FUMAGALE MACEDO; ÉLEN DOS SANTOS ALVES; ISABELA THAÍS MACHADO DE JESUS; KEIKA INOUYE; TÁBATTA RENATA PEREIRA DE BRITO; ARIENE ANGELINI DOS SANTOS-ORLANDI. Frailty is associated with sociodemographic and health factors and related to the care context of older caregivers: a Brazilian cross-sectional study. São Paulo Medical Journal, 2022-09-12. (20/07919-3)

MARCOS SOARES DE ARRUDA; MARCELA NAIARA GRACIANI FUMAGALE MACEDO; ANA CAROLINA OTTAVIANI; DANIELLA PIRES NUNES; JULIANA DE FÁTIMA ZACARIN CARDOSO; KELLY CRISTINA DOS SANTOS; TÁBATTA RENATA PEREIRA DE BRITO; ARIENE ANGELINI DOS SANTOS-ORLANDI. Correlação da funcionalidade familiar e sobrecarga de cuidadores informais de idosos hospitalizados. Rev. Gaúcha Enferm., v. 43, 2022-07-31. (20/07919-3, 19/19411-7)

MACEDO, MARCELA NAIARA GRACIANI FUMAGALE; ALVES, ELEN DOS SANTOS; DE JESUS, ISABELA THAIS MACHADO; INOUYE, KEIKA; DE BRITO, TABATTA RENATA PEREIRA; DOS SANTOS-ORLANDI, ARIENE ANGELINI. Frailty is associated with sociodemographic and health factors and related to the care context of older caregivers: a Brazilian cross-sectional study. São Paulo Medical Journal, v. 141, n. 3, p. 8-pg., 2023-05-01. (20/07919-3)