Aim

The aim of the study was to assess the life’s quality of family carers of elderly people covered by long-term home care.

Material and methods

This study uses: the method of a diagnostic survey carried out using the questionnaire technique, the questionnaire of own authorship and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire in a short version, which assess the life’s quality of adults according to WHO. The study covered 99 family caregivers.

Results

In 80.8% of the carers are women, 56.6% of the respondents work professionally, most of the charges are parents - 50.5%. The respondents indicate a lack of physical strength to care for them - 67.7%, they find it the most difficult to mobilize the sick - 57.6%, 60.7% do not confirm their preparation for taking care of the sick at home. Most respondents complain of back pain - 76.8%, 67.7% experienced a depressed mood. Taking care of a senior limits the social functioning of caregivers. The study showed that 77.8% of caregivers describe their quality of life as worse than good.

Conclusions

1. Taking care of an elderly person causes, in the self-esteem of caregivers, a deterioration of their quality of life in the analyzed areas of quality of life, and the longer the time of providing care, the worse the self-assessment of the caregivers' health. 2. The most common reasons for taking up care are: living together, a sense of duty, the lack of other people to care for, 3. The preparation of guardians to care for a disabled senior is insufficient.