Ser familiar de usuários de saúde mental: vivências e sentimentos

Bruna Rosa De Souza, ,Josiane Da Costa Moreira,Ariane Da Cruz Guedes,Federal University Of Pelotas – Ufpel, Pelotas, Rs, Brazil ,Luciane Prado Kantorski,Vinicius Boldt Dos Santos,Etiene Silveira De Menezes

doi:10.46311/2318-0579.59.euj3736

Abstract

To know the experiences of care of family members of mental health users who are accompanied in a Psychosocial Care Center II in the southern region of the country. This is an exploratory and descriptive research with a qualitative approach carried out with seven family members included in the group of family members of the service. They were classified in three themes: Experience regarding the care given by the family caregiver to the mental health user; Support network available to the family caregiver; Strategies used by the family caregiver to promote self-care. The study reveals the impact of the overload of the family caregiver when performing this function with family members who demand a high degree of dependence. As the dependence of the person who demands care increases, the family caregiver notices an increase in the overload, which interferes with their physical and psychological health. Becoming the primary caregiver entailed the abandonment of some activities at some point in life due to the user's dependence; including activities to promote self-care. By assuming this role, the participants reported the fragility of the intrafamily support network, and PSCC was mentioned as the main support network. In this study, it was possible to perceive the overload of the family caregiver from all the demands generated by this process that, when shared in the group, makes it possible to relieve the anguish and create care strategies that promote an improved interaction with the family member who is a PSCC user, and may stimulate this person to have more autonomy over their life.

Highlights

The Psychiatric Reform changed the mental health care through the deinstitutionalization process where, with the emergence of the Psychosocial Care Centers (PSCC), the family started to be considered as an important part in the process of caring at home for that member who lives with psychic suffering
From the analysis of the records obtained, three themes emerged: Experience with the care provided by the family caregiver to the mental health user; Support network available to the family caregiver and Strategies used by the family caregiver to promote self-care
Theme 1 - Experience with illness and the care provided by the family caregiver to the mental health user

Summary

Introduction

The Psychiatric Reform changed the mental health care through the deinstitutionalization process where, with the emergence of the Psychosocial Care Centers (PSCC), the family started to be considered as an important part in the process of caring at home for that member who lives with psychic suffering. The family member who plays the role of caregiver begins to assume diverse and challenging functions, in which many are not prepared, which can lead to a low evaluation in the quality of life of these subjects and an overload to the family caregivers themselves (Kantorski et al, 2017). It is common that in the process of some family member's illness, family members, especially the family caregiver, present a high physical, mental, emotional, social and financial overload, whose predictors come from the continuous care provided to the family member (Gomes, Silva & Batista, 2018). The position of family caregiver of a relative with mental disorders is often a lonely task, because there is resistance from the other family members regarding the division of care. By assuming the total responsibility for the care, the family caregiver has his/her daily activities compromised, and this included the self-care activities (Kebbe, Rôse, Fiorati & Carretta, 2014)

Methods

Results

Conclusion