CARING FOR THE ELDERLY: AWAKENING TO THE MENTAL HEALTH OF CAREGIVERS/CUIDADOR DE IDOSOS: O DESPERTAR PARA SAUDE MENTAL DE QUEM CUIDA/CUIDAR A LOS MAYORES: DESPERTAR A LA SALUD MENTAL DE LOS CUIDADORES

INTRODUCTION Brazil's demographic profile has undergone profound changes in recent decades, and these changes have led to the presence of caregivers in Brazilian homes. Despite the unanimity regarding the benefits to the patient of the presence of a caregiver, little or no attention has been paid to the health of the person who lives with and deals with this patient on an almost daily basis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to identify mental health disorders among formal and informal caregivers of the elderly. METHODOLOGY A systematic review of the literature on the mental health of elderly caregivers was carried out. The papers were selected from Pubmed and Scielo, using the keywords: caregivers of older adults and mental health. In this search, it was possible to identify the profile of the caregiver, as well as the association between high levels of burden, feelings of guilt and psychiatric disorders. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION A greater impact on the mental health of this group of studies is notorious. This scenario is underpinned by the lack of concrete public policies to support elderly caregivers, resulting in challenges such as lack of education, lack of regulation of the profession and lack of investment in specific public policies. There is a need for a humanized approach, recognition of the complexity of caregivers' roles and the strengthening of educational, political, social, financial and psychological support strategies to improve the quality of life of these professionals. Keywords: Caregivers; mental health; overload; psychological stress. INTRODUCAO O perfil demografico brasileiro sofreu profundas transformacoes nas ultimas decadas, tais mudancas fizeram com que a presenca da figura do cuidador fosse cada vez mais presente nos lares brasileiros. Apesar da unanimidade com relacao aos beneficios do paciente com a presenca do cuidador, pouca ou nenhuma atencao foi direcionada a saude da pessoa que convive e lida quase que diariamente com este paciente. OBJETIVO O objetivo do estudo e identificar os transtornos ligados a saude mental em cuidadores de idosos formais ou informais. METODOLOGIA Foi realizada uma revisao sistematica da literatura sobre saude mental de cuidadores de idosos. Os trabalhos foram selecionados no Pubmed e Scielo, utilizando-se as palavraschaves: cuidadores de idosos (caregivers of older adults) e saude mental (mental health). Foram destacados 15 artigos de um total de 236. Nessa busca foi possivel identificar o perfi