Yo cuido, tú cuidas, ella cuida: relatos de vida de cuidadoras informales

Abstract

Objective: to get to know the experience, perceptions and feelings of different informal carers of depending family members. Metodology: Qualitative analysis of biographical accounts of informal caregivers.The search for sources of information was done in July 2016. The source search and selection of biographic stories was the documentary “Archivos de la Memoria” from the laboratory of investigation “Fundación Index”. Results: 9 biographic tales from female carers. A total of 4 categories and 85 thematic codes were obtained. After the analysis, we found that what dominates in all the biographic stories is the feelings that the situation of dependency generates in the carer, followed for the arrival of the illness and dependency, life before care and the experience as a carer and the professional and family support. Conclusions: all the stories show in a very crude way the struggle of the protagonists, in a very hard time of their lives, as well as the physical and psychological consequences. The isolation, the loneliness and in many cases leaving behind family, friends and work...make the several different strategies used varied and effective. The institutional and family support is fundamental for these carers not to feel forgotten and abandoned.