Síndrome de burnout em cuidadores de idosos residentes em famílias de acolhimento

Abstract

European society is confronting its own aging, becoming more necessary to create social responses that ensure the elderly population welfare. In Portugal, was implemented by the Ministry of Solidarity, Employment and Social Security the social response "host families" (Law No 391/91 of 10th October) as an alternative to institutional placement, aiming to provide the person received a socio-affective and family environment conducive to meeting their basic needs. The master's thesis presented here focuses on the physical, mental and social health of elderly caregivers within this social response in the context of burnout syndrome. This syndrome has been defined as one of the most striking effects of occupational stress and characterized by exhaustion, especially in professions with high levels of interpersonal contact. This study aims to understand the burnout syndrome in caregivers of elderly host families. This study was conducted in Arcos de Valdevez municipality (Viana do Castelo district) through a quantitative methodology. For its realization we used a sample of twenty caregivers. For that purpose a questionnaire with seventeen questions prepared by us was used, based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The study concludes that the caregivers in host families participating in this study showed a low risk of burnout, although it is recognized that exposure to workload and the repeated contact with death generate a high level of stress, what makes these caregivers might warrant particular attention to prevent this syndrome.

Date of Award	29 May 2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Manuel Fonseca (Supervisor)