Family of older adults with mental disorder: perception of mental health professionals

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: to understand the perceptions of healthcare professionals of the Psychosocial Care Centers regarding the family of older adults with mental disorders. Method: study of a Qualitative Case conducted with 12 healthcare professionals from a Psychosocial Care Center, with a convenient and exhaustive sample. Conducting semi-structured interviews to collect data, which were analyzed with the Content Analysis technique. Results: the following categories stood out: "Family exhaustion and deterioration in the perception of the healthcare professional" and "The abandonment of older adults by family members and their distancing in the perception of the healthcare professional." Final considerations: culpability of older adults and penalization of the family were verified by healthcare professionals. To bring awareness about the difficulties faced in the attempt to bring the family closer to the healthcare service, it is necessary to analyze the care given to the older adult and to overcome challenges in the effective construction of the bond between family, healthcare user and mental health service.