Cuidadoras de familiares dependientes y salud: influencia de la participación en un taller de control de estrés

Abstract

Las tareas de cuidado a dependientes merecen ser objeto de estudio y atención por representar un factor de riesgo para la salud. Por ello analizamos los efectos de ser cuidadora familiar y asistir a un curso de control del estrés, así como la incidencia de dos covariables consideradas relevantes, como son los pensamientos disfuncionales y el tiempo prestando cuidados. Analizamos una muestra de 219 asistentes a talleres psicoeducativos a la que se aplicaron tres instrumentos: cuestionario sociodemográfico, cuestionario de salud general (GHQ28) y pensamientos disfuncionales (CPD). El análisis univariante mostró que ser cuidadora familiar repercute negativamente (p < .001) en todas las escalas del GHQ y que realizar un curso de estrés tiene efectos claramente positivos (p < .05) en la salud general, la somatización y la función social. Asimismo, el análisis de la covarianza mostró que los efectos de ser cuidadora y haber realizado un curso de estrés se mantienen incluso si se consideran los pensamientos disfuncionales y el tiempo cuidando.© 2013 Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid. Todos los derechos reservados. Women caregivers of dependent relatives and health: Effects of the participation in a stress management workshopA B S T R A C T Dependent care tasks deser ve a special study and attention because of being a health risk factor. That is the reason why we analyzed the effects of working as a family caregiver and of attending a stress management workshop and the impact of two relevant covariables, i.e., dysfunctional thoughts and the time spent providing care. We analyzed a sample of 219 participants attending psychoeducational workshops. Three instruments were applied: A socio-demographic questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28), and the Dysfunctional Thoughts Questionnaire (CPD). Univariate analysis showed that working as a family caregiver has a negative impact (p < .001) on all GHQ scales and that attending a stress management workshop has a positive effect (p < .05) on general health, somatization and social function. Furthermore, covariance analysis showed that the effects of working as a caregiver and attending a stress management workshop remained significant even when the two covariables (dysfunctional thoughts and time providing care) were considered.En España la gran mayoría de los cuidados a las personas con un grado de dependencia grave o moderado debido a una enfermedad crónica o a alguna discapacidad son atendidos por familiares en el hogar (INE, 2008(INE, , 2009, representando casi el 88% del tiempo total dispensado a la salud en comparación con el 12% del sistema sanitario (Seguí, Ortiz-Tallo y De Diego, 2008). Según datos oficiales la gran mayoría de las personas cuidadoras son mujeres, motivo por el cual a partir de ahora nos referiremos en femenino a esta población (IM-SERSO, 2005; INE, 2008 INE, , 2009Seira, Aller y Calvo, 2002). La literatura indica que las personas cuidadoras, especialmente las mujeres, sufren mayor riesgo de tener mala salud (Colombo, Llena-Nozal, Mer...

Effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing depressive symptomatology and overload and improving quality of life in informal caregivers of non-institutionalized dependent elderly: a systematic review

“…The most common components in all these trials are psychoeducational, ACE, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and social support (SS) interventions, which, in turn, have the most significant effect on the variable of caregiver burden and improvement of quality of life (QoL). These results are supported by other studies where psychoeducation and the application of ACE and SS techniques have a positive effect on caregiver burden and the stress associated with caregiving, improving the QoL of the IC ( 39 , 61 – 63 ).…”

Health and burnout of home health care assistants: impact of a training intervention

“…It is clearly established that the absolute majority of people who care for relatives are women (IMSERSO, 2005) and that they have worse health themselves. They show a greater number of anxiety and depression symptoms, various somatic symptoms such as back pain, and a higher prevalence of some chronic diseases (Colombo, Llena-Nozal, Mercier & Tjadens, 2011;Saavedra, Bascón, Arias, Calderón & Mora, 2013). The limited literature available indicates that caregiv-ers with burnout are at a greater risk than their more professionalized counterparts -nurses-, even if they work in the same context (Gerhard, 2000).…”

“…These interventions clearly improved knowledge; however, stress and burnout seemed not to be improved in a significant way (Spector et al, 2016). On the other hand, there is some partial evidence of the effectiveness of stress management courses for family caregivers Ruiz-Robledillo & Moya-Albiol, 2015;Saavedra, et al, 2013). The aim of these courses or workshops is to provide family caregivers with strategies and resources to cope with the stress that caregiving tasks entail.…”

“…Due to the lack of studies assessing interventions specifically with HHCA, the intervention was based on programs addressed to similar populations. For instance, the intervention programs on the caregivers of people with autism spectrum disorder's health (Ruiz-Robledillo & Moya-Albiol, 2015) or programs on improving the psychological well-being amongst family caregivers of people with dementia Saavedra, et al, 2013). As we can see in table 2, in accordance with the activities carried out, the program can be considered a cognitive-behavioral intervention.…”

Caring for Family Members With Alzheimer’s and Burnout Syndrome: Impairment of the Health of Housewives

“…Similarly, health indicators are directly related to perceived overburden, such that the heavier the burden is perceived, the greater the deterioration in health. Specific studies done with family caregivers of Alzheimer's patients, which evaluated the general health condition of the patients, found that around 65% of the cases evaluated needed specialized attention (Saavedra et al, 2013).…”