O idoso pós acidente vascular encefálico e o cuidador familiar

Abstract

The growing population of elderly is a wordwide phenomenon. In 1950, there were about 204 million elderly people in the world and in 1998 this number reached 579 million, an increase of nearly 8 million people a year old. In Brazil, the projections indicate a marked increase in elderly population, ie 80 years or more. The stroke is a disease of the circulatory system more common in the elderly. The disease can be defined as a sudden focal neurological deficit due to a vascular injury. The stroke may result in deformities that result in a dependence of the elderly, and functional dependence requires long-term care in the physical, social, emotional and financial. It is of interest for this study to review articles that discuss the relationship of the patient after Stroke with the family. This is a critical review of literature which were prioritized items surveyed between 2005 and 2008 in electronic databases and Scielo Bireme using the following keywords: stroke, elderly, family, family relationships, rehabilitation, the impact of the disease profile . We found thirteen articles and after reading the abstracts, three were selected for this study. The results of these studies found that family structure is shaken before the occurrence of an incapacitating illness, and that the informal caregiver goes through periods of stress and physical and mental illnesses. They underscored the need to adopt strategies which all persons coming to provide aid to the elderly and the importance of knowledge about the disease by the family caregiver, then using a qualified healthcare professional. The data indicated that sometimes the family has become more united to play the role of caregiver. A common point among all the studies is that the greater family participation in the recovery of the elderly, this will give better recovery. Prevention is the best way to care for the elderly. Caring for the health problem can prevent or ameliorate it. The family should seek measures to reduce stroke risk factors (especially diabetes, hypertension and heart disease) with appropriate professionals.