<b>Social support as a possibility of survival: perceptions of caregivers in remaining communities of quilombos</b> - doi: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v10i3.17190

Abstract

The care given to arelative with chronic health condition can cause changes in the life of the caregiver, for instance, the social support received becomes an aid in the reduction of the possible adverse effects related to care. Thus, the purpose in this work was to identify the social assistance received by caregivers of relatives with health chronic condition in a remaining Quilombo rural community. This is a qualitative exploratory and descriptive research, carried out in the South of Brazil, from February to June 2011, with 13 relative caregivers. Semi-structured interview and participant observation to collect the data, and the data saturation criterion to finish the collection were used. For the data analysis it was used thematic analysis. The social support in networks was classified as emotional, informational and instrumental. The emotional support was received from family and support groups. Informational support was received from more experienced individuals, the kind who had gone through similar situation, members of religious congregations and from health professionals. The instrumental support was provided especially by the family. It is pointed out that the social support is understood, by caregivers, as inherent to social relationships, and can be mobilized in times of need.