Isabel Lage

Eficácia do programa IncARE na sobrecarga dos cuidadores informais de pessoas idosas após um AVC

“Efficacy of the program InCARE in the burden of informal caregivers of older people after a stroke” BACKGROUND: Stroke is the leading cause of disability in Portuguese older people. Despite the advances in the health care system, allowing more stroke survivors living at home be cared by their families, the evidence suggests higher levels of burden in caregivers, dissatisfaction with the quantity and quality of information they received and with the support received. The state-of-the art, also suggests, there is a need for implementing a psychoeducational intervention programmes based on problem solving and on practical skills acquisition to reduce burden in caregivers. AIM: The study aimed at: (1) assessing the practical skills of caregivers of older stroke survivors; (2) evaluating an intervention program to reduce burden in caregivers during the 1st (M1) and 3rd (M2) month after the intervention. METHODOS: The quasi-experimental study was developed with 174 informal caregivers of dependent older stroke survivors, allocated in: i) experimental group (n = 85); and ii) control group (n = 89). Data collection occurred in community-dwelling of health care units in northern Portugal. RESULTS: The data suggests higher levels of burden in the 1st and 3rd month of the control group in comparison with the experimental group, in which a decrease after a follow-up was verified. (M2). CONCLUSION: The results of the InCARE program suggests the importance of early structured interventions to achieve practical skills by informal caregivers of older stroke survivors as a therapeutic intervention to reduce burden.