Browsing by Author "Fernández, María Beatriz"

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    El efecto del cuidado informal en la salud de los cuidadores familiares de personas mayores dependientes en Chile
    (2020) Fernández, María Beatriz; Herrera, María Soledad
    Background: Care required by dependent older people is mostly provided by close family members. Caregiving is a demanding task, negatively affecting the physical and mental health of the caregiver. Aim: To describe the sociodemographic characteristics of informal caregivers of dependent elderly people in Chile and to evaluate the effect of providing care on the health of caregivers. Material and Methods: Data from the Economic Characterization Survey (CASEN) done in 2015 was used. Using as index cases older people who were receiving care from a family member, 4,313 informal caregivers were identified, whose characteristics were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and matching through propensity score were estimated, based on a logistic model, which included covariates such as sex, age, marital status, education, occupation, and income. Finally, the effect of being an informal caregiver versus not being a caregiver on the perception of health was calculated. Results: Forty four percent of the caregivers were offspring and 33.6% couples. Sixty seven percent were women, with a mean age of 56.5 years. Half of them had a partner, 43% had basic education or less, and 61% were inactive. Being a caregiver had a significant effect of health perception. Conclusions: People belonging to certain more vulnerable groups are more likely to assume caregiving. Providing care to a dependent older person has a negative effect on health perception.
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    Factores de riesgo de la dependencia funcional en las personas mayores chilenas y consecuencias en el cuidado informal
    (2016) Cheix Dieguez, María Consuelo; Herrera, María Soledad; Fernández, María Beatriz; Barros Lezaeta, Carmen
    A partir de la Encuesta Nacional de Dependencia en Personas Mayores en Chile del año 2009, se caracteriza a las personas dependientes y se aplican modelos de regresión logística multivariada para estimar los factores asociados a experimentar dependencia. Además de la edad y la presencia de enfermedades, hay otros factores que se asocian con mayor prevalencia de dependencia, tales como el nivel educacional, la calidad de las relaciones familiares y la realización de actividades como ejercicio físico o lectura. También se caracteriza y se describe el nivel de bienestar de los cuidadores informales de personas dependientes. El estrés del cuidador informal es expresado tanto por un incremento en los sentimientos depresivos y de sobrecarga, como también por un empeoramiento de la salud física. Los cuidadores suelen ser mujeres, de edad avanzada y con niveles educativos bajos, lo que intensifica aun más el contexto de vulnerabilidad de este grupo.
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    Grandparent-grandchild relationships, generativity, subjective well-being and self-rated health of older people in Chile
    (2022) Herrera, María Soledad; Galkuté, Milda; Fernández, María Beatriz; Elgueta, Raúl
    With increasing life expectancy, grandparents and grandchildren have more years available to share. Furthermore, with lower fertility rates and fewer grandchildren, relationships can be more frequent and profound. Intergenerational relationships are expected to be associated with older people's quality of life, especially in Latin American countries such as Chile, with high intergenerational co-residence and contact between generations. This research aims to analyze the associations between the characteristics of intergenerational relationships and grandparents' subjective well-being (Diener Scale and Satisfaction) and self-rated health. The novelty stems from including the structural characteristics of relationships with grandchildren (frequency of contact, closeness, and care), the activities they share (generativity), and the quality of relationships (ambivalence). This study is based on data from a specific face-to-face grandparenting survey conducted on a sample of 464 grandparents in January 2020. It is representative of older Chilean grandparents living in private dwellings. Multiple logistic and ordinary regression models were estimated using the Diener Scale, unique satisfaction question, and health self-perception. The results demonstrated that subjective well-being, but not self-rated health, was highly associated with the characteristics of intergenerational relationships, especially with the quality of relationships and with generative activities such as recreational activities and family identity. In conclusion, intergenerational relationships' quality and content are strongly associated with subjective well-being in old age, but not with health self-perception. Even in a Latin American country like Chile, with high co-residence and intergenerational contact, the variations in quality and generativity activities significantly explain the variations in subjective well-being. For this reason, policies for the promotion of well-being in older people must consider the family environment in which older people live, encompassing wider family networks, including grandchildren.
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    Loneliness in Older Chilean People: Importance of Family Dysfunction and Depression
    (2021) Carrasco Gorman, Marcela; Fernández, María Beatriz; Alexander, Emma; Herrera, María Soledad
    Loneliness is considered a public health problem that negatively affects wellbeing, especially in the older population. In Latin-American countries, most of the older population live with their family. Although this is thought to diminish feelings of loneliness, there is scarce data to support this. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of loneliness and evaluate its association with objective social networks, family functioning and perception of social support, in a sample of older people from Santiago, Chile. A survey was conducted of a representative sample of community older people (60–97 years) from Santiago, Chile, using the UCLA abbreviated scale of loneliness. Logistic regression was performed to test the variables related to the loneliness of older people. A total of 1,217 older people were interviewed. 88% were living with at least one person at home and 92% had living children. Using the UCLA abbreviated scale, 45% were found to perceive feelings of loneliness at least some of the time. Logistic regression showed significant association between loneliness and family dysfunction; depressive symptoms; living alone; not having a partner (widowed, separated or single); having little contact with relatives and friends; feeling a lack of social support; and sensation of poor self-efficacy. Loneliness is a prevalent public health problem in this older Latin-American community. Living accompanied does not protect against loneliness, particularly in vulnerable groups such as those with depression, or when there are family conflicts. The high prevalence of loneliness strongly conveys the need for public health policies to address loneliness in older people.
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    Predictors of Quality of Life in Old Age: A Multivariate Study in Chile
    (2011) Herrera, María Soledad; Barros Lezaeta, Carmen; Fernández, María Beatriz
    There have been few studies that examine quality of life among older adults in the Latin American region. Using a recent representative national survey on quality of life among older adults in Chile, we examine the effects of eight potentially important factors (nutrition, physical activity, going outside the home, reading, quality of family relations, conflict, social support, self-efficacy) on three major dimensions of quality of life (functional capacity, material conditions, general satisfaction with life). The regression models confirm that the major predictive factor of satisfactory functional capacity is the practice of physical activities, while for satisfaction, the major predictive factors are self-efficacy, good quality of social relations, and the performance of significant activities such as reading and going outside the home. Educational level is a variable that cuts across all these predictors, in a context of great unequal social opportunities in Latin America. These results have implications for the development and implementation of social policies and programs to achieve an improvement in living conditions of the growing elderly population in the region, and reduce costs that societies face as a product of this new demographic scenario.
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    Predictors of Unmet Needs in Chilean Older People with Dependency: A Cross-Sectional Study
    (2023) Carvacho, Raffaela; Carrasco, Marcela; Fernández, María Beatriz; Miranda-Castillo, Claudia
    Approximately one in five Chilean older adults has some degree of dependency. Limited evidence is available on self-perceived needs in Latin-American older people. The main aim of this study was to identify predictors of unmet needs of dependent older persons without cognitive impairment, considering personal and primary informal caregivers’ factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 77 dyads of older people with dependency and their caregivers. A survey was administered, evaluating sociodemographic characteristics, anxious and depressive symptomatology, health-related quality of life, and social support. Older people’s self-reported met and unmet needs and caregivers’ burden and self-efficacy were also assessed. To determine predictors of unmet needs, a multiple regression analysis was carried out. Most participants had mild to moderate levels of dependency. The most frequent unmet needs were “daytime activities” (33.8%), “company” (23.4%), “benefits” (23.4%), and “psychological distress” (24.7%). Older people’s higher level of dependency and anxious symptomatology were predictors of a higher number of unmet needs, with a model whose predictive value was 31%. The high prevalence of anxious symptomatology and its relationship with the presence of unmet needs highlight the importance of making older people’s psychological and social needs visible and addressing them promptly.
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    Religious Coping, Experiential Avoidance, Self‑Compassion, and Post‑Traumatic Stress by COVID‑19: a Serial Mediation Study
    (2023) Fuentes-Ferrada, Reiner; Cerda-Planas, Catalina; Fernández, María Beatriz
    The COVID-19 pandemic has brought consequences to mental health, with religiosity being a relevant coping factor in reducing the negative impact of the health crisis. Based on a convenience sample of Chilean adults, this study sought to explore the relationship between religious coping and post-traumatic stress due to COVID-19, hypothesizing that this relationship would be mediated by experiential avoidance and self-compassion. A non-experimental cross-sectional design was used, applying an online survey to 300 adults who lived in Chile. The results show that all variables are related and that experiential avoidance (EA) and self-compassion play a serial mediating role in the relationship between negative religious coping (NRC) and post-traumatic stress. Furthermore, the results showed that religious coping, experiential avoidance, self-compassion, and COVID-19 post-traumatic stress are signifcantly interrelated. Moreover, a serial mediation was found among the variables: higher experiential avoidance and lower level of self-compassion mediate the impact of COVID-19 post-traumatic stress in people with negative religious coping. At the end of the article, the implications of the results and how these variables interact in a serial mediation mechanism that sheds further light on the relationships between negative religious coping, mental health, and adverse situations such as COVID-19 are discussed.
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    Resilience promotion through religiosity among Chilean older adults during the global outbreak of COVID-19
    (2024) Fernández, María Beatriz; Galkuté, Milda; Reyes, Victoria
    The stressors caused by the pandemic, as well as a lockdown measure generated a greater mental and emotional burden in many individuals, especially among older people. This qualitative study examined from 22 semi-structured interviews how religiosity acted as a psychosocial resource that promoted resilience, positive coping, and social support among older Chilean adults. Religious older adults not only showed a strong capacity for resilience, but also adaptability to new technologies that helped them express their religiosity in new ways during the pandemic, which should be considered in public policies to promote active aging during times of crisis.