[Burden on informal caregivers of people cared for at home by Primary Care during the covid-19 pandemic: Exploratory study]

Abstract

Introduction: Primary Care cares for dependent people in their homes, and also supports their main caregivers. With the covid-19 pandemic, this care was altered.

Aim: To analyze the level of burden in the informal caregiver role during the first months of the covid-19 pandemic; and study their perception of the support received during the pandemic by Primary Care.

Methods: Explanatory sequential design, combining different methodologies. First, a retrospective longitudinal quantitative study to assess the characteristics of people cared at home and the overload of their informal caregivers before and after the covid-19 first months between March 2020 and December 2021. Secondly, based on these data, 12 informal caregivers with a greater worsening of overload were selected for the qualitative study. In-depth interviews were conducted to find out their perception of their burden.

Results: A total of 13,353 people receiving home care were analyzed for the quantitative study, with a mean age of 86.4 years (SD: 9.1), of which 71.8% were women, 34% of the caregivers were overloaded, which increased by 2.5%(P<0.001). This overload increased significantly during the covid-19 pandemic. With the 12 interviews of the qualitative study, it was concluded that there was no relevant impact of confinement on the patient that received home care, which would have occurred on the caregivers, due to uncertainly or the lack of social interaction. The informants highlighted the difficulty of telephone access to the Primary Care center and dissatisfaction with the loss of face-to-face contact, although they valued the longitudinality and the telephone follow-up carried out.

Conclusion: It is necessary to reinforce support strategies in the care of informal caregivers within the receiving home care program to reduce the burden seen.

Keywords: Atención Primaria; Atención domiciliaria; Caregiver overload; Community nursing; Covid-19; Enfermería comunitaria; Homecare; Primary Health Care; Sobrecarga del cuidador.