The Covid-19 impact on family caregivers’ mental health in the Municipality of Aveiro

Abstract

Portugal had the first Covid case on March 2nd, 2022. In the following month, 81.087 new cases and 266 deaths were reported. Directorate-General for Health (DGS) took some measures to control the pandemic, including social isolation, and other methods. Social isolation adds to the disruption on Family Caregivers’ (FCs) routines, challenging their abilities to adopt new procedures, reconciling them with the existing ones. This caused increased tension, distress, and overload to caregivers, which in turn may have affected caregiver’s mental health, triggering feelings of loneliness, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. In this context, social isolation associated with other existing factors, may have contributed to further weakening of caregivers’ physical and mental health. The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of social isolation on family caregivers’ (of elderlies and/or dependent people) mental health resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.