Preparedness and Competence for Caregiving the Oncogeriatric Patient

Abstract

Introduction: Primary caregivers of oncogeriatric patients are a group vulnerable to suffering from physical and psychological conditions. Sometimes, such individuals are not prepared for this role. It is important to address the theoretical approach on the preparedness and competence for caregiving, because they constitute modulating variables in the quality of care for the sick family member.

Objective: To analyze theoretical aspects related to the preparedness and competence of the oncogeriatric patient primary caregiver.

Methods: For content analysis, research results published between 2015 and 2022 were reviewed, from official websites of the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization and Ministries of Health; together with journals indexed in the SciELO, Scopus and Medline (PubMed) databases. The population of studied scientific papers consisted of 108 articles, of which 53 were cited. All the selected manuscripts had methodological quality.

Conclusions: When the primary caregiver succeeds in making changes regarding disease management, given the achieved preparedness and competences, not only are the positive effects on practice and emotions visualized, but it also allows the execution of tasks for a prolonged time without putting their health at risk, and the adverse consequences of caregiving are reduced.