Introduction:

Assuming the role of family caregivers for a prolonged period of people with kidney disease and on dialysis can lead to psychological exhaustion that makes the person inoperative and emotionally unstable; harming the health of the caregiver and the person cared for.

Objective:

To explore the coping strategies and the context in which they are implemented by family caregivers of patients with kidney disease undergoing dialysis treatment to deal with overload.

Material and Method:

Qualitative study with a descriptive-phenomenological design using individual semi-structured interviews. The Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale was used to initially determine the overload of family caregivers. Four family caregivers with higher heavy burden scores (>56 points) were selected at convenience. Sociodemographic data were collected. Thematic analysis was carried out according to the Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.

Results:

Six main themes were identified: Starting as family caregivers, Family caregiver’s experiences, Perspectives as family caregivers, Overload and coping strategies, Needs of family caregivers and Care recipient. Adaptive coping strategies included: breathing exercises, prayer, and knitting. Caregivers also face a constant feeling of leaving everything, avoiding communication, and engaging in risky behaviors.

Conclusions:

Family caregiver’s experiences require an interprofessional team to implement interventions to alleviate caregiver burden and thus broaden their framework of strategies to improve the quality of life of the home care recipient.

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