Gerontechnologies used by families/caregivers of elderly people with alzheimers: Contribution to complex care

Abstract

Objective: to identify gerontechnologies developed/used by family members/caregivers as strategies of complex care strategies for the elderly person/family with Alzheimer’s disease. Method: an exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study, carried out with 13 family members/caregivers of elderly people who were participants of a support group from a university institution in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were collected from January to April in 2016, through a semi-structured interview and submitted to discursive textual analysis. Results: were identified gerontechnologies used/suggested by family members/caregivers, regarding forgetfulness regarding finding their way back home; refusing to take baths/showers; repetition and irritability; medication; money; ignorance/stigmatization of Alzheimer’s disease; the risk of falling; care control. Conclusion: the family caregivers of elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease experience difficulties in the physical, mental and social aspects, for which they develop/use gerontechnologies in the form of products and processes/knowledge/strategies, to assist them in the care/coexistence with the elderly person with Alzheimer’s disease.