Resources and consequences of caregiving for people older than 65: a systematic review
Adelaida Zabalegui, Clara Juando, María Dolores Izquierdo, Pilar Gual, Araceli González-Valentín, Albert Gallart, Magdalena Díaz, Esther Corrales, Esther Cabrera, Andreu Bover, Amaia Sáenz de Ormijana, Ana Ramírez, Anna Pulpón, Luis López, Cristina Jones

SUMMARY

Introduction: Caregivers of elderly people are the main support they receive. The fact of giving care affects in different ways every carer and these consequences are deeply described in the literature. Literature is wide when describing these repercussions of caregiving on caregivers.

Methods: A systematic literature review was done in the main international and Spanish data bases about articles focused on interventions and consequences of caregiving on caregivers of older people.

Conclusions: Spanish caregivers seem to have diverse support resources for providing care. Literature compile positive and negative outcomes. Among the latter, we found as the most important anxious and depressive status and caregiver burden. However, this consequences seem to interact with positive repercussion. The literature review invite us to confirm that more research is needed to clear the relationship between both poles of caregiving.

KEY WORDS

Caregivers, informal caregiving, old people, elderly, consequences, resources, impact.

Vol. 15 nº4-2004