Browsing by Author "Herrera, María Soledad"

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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.