La influencia del apoyo socialuna contribución para el bienestar de cuidadores de personas con demencia

Abstract

As one of the most relevant pathologies in public health in the 21st century, dementia is characterized by a progressive loss of the cognitive functions of the individual who suffers it. However, this impact not only affects the patient, but its effect has ramifications in his social environment. The figure of the caregiver, as the person responsible to provide care for people with dementia, is one of the service providing roles for patients with a higher prevalence of factors such as depression, stress, anxiety and, specially, caregiver burden. For this reason, and considering the social dimension of the pathologies, this study has focused on the analysis, use, and evaluation of strategies which value the social support for caregiver and the benefits of this intervention programs for variables such as isolation, burden or satisfaction. For this purpose, the research used a sample of 157 caregivers across two different studies. The first study compared and showed the positive effects for the use of formal resources. The second study implemented a pre-post-test design with control group social-support intervention, which demonstrated its benefits for the health of caregivers.