Abstract

Introduction: Family care for dependent elderly people is a complex, often unplanned process that has significant repercussions on the physical, emotional, social and economic well-being of carers. However, caring for dependent elderly people is not necessarily a solely negative experience, as widely documented, but can also motivate positive aspects that stem from gratification. Literature has traditionally focused on the negative consequences, such as overload and stress, although more recent studies highlight the coexistence of positive dimensions, such as gratification and personal fulfilment.

Objective: To analyze the meaning and implications of becoming a family carer for a dependent elderly person, exploring both the negative and positive aspects of caring experience.

Methods: Qualitative ethnographic study using participant observation. Twenty-one family carers of dependent elderly people living in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Portugal, participated. Data collection took place between September 2020 and October 2021.

The data were subjected to thematic content analysis.

Results: Caregiving was found to be associated with high physical, emotional, and economic burden, with a significant impact on the personal, family, and social lives of caregivers, as well as the emergence of family conflicts. At the same time, caregiving was experienced as a source of love, gratitude, pleasure, and personal fulfilment. The caregiving experience emerges as lonely and ambivalent, integrating sacrifice and reward.

Conclusion: Family care for dependent older adults is a multidimensional phenomenon, deeply influenced by the caregiver's subjective assessment, relational history and available contextual resources. Health professionals' interventions should recognise the caregiver as a central actor in the continuity of care, promoting strategies that favour their well-being and quality of life.

Keywords

family caregiver, dependent elderly person, caregiver burden, quality of life, qualitative research