Transgenerationality of care in informal caregivers of hospitalized patients

Abstract

Hospitalization is understood as a subjective and multifactorial experience that causes emotional ruptures and demands reorganization in the lives of patients and their support networks, highlighting the role of the informal caregiver, generally a family member and predominantly a woman, whose work is shaped by gender, race, and social class inequalities. This study aimed to understand how the family system influences the assignment of the informal caregiver role for hospitalized patients through a qualitative exploratory study conducted with six caregivers in a general hospital in the Federal District of Brazil, using a sociodemographic questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and genograms analyzed through content analysis. The results showed that caregiving is predominantly concentrated among women and is sustained by lifelong caregiving experiences and intergenerational transmission of family values, taking three main forms: central caregiver, substitute caregiver, and shared caregiving through rotation. The sexual division of labor remains evident, with men occupying mainly punctual or financial provider roles, although generational changes toward greater male co-responsibility were observed. Caregiving produces significant impacts on caregivers’ lives, including emotional, physical, and occupational overload, but it can also be a source of meaning, belonging, and purpose. The study concludes that understanding family dynamics and the intersectional conditions of caregivers is essential for more humane and effective hospital care, highlighting the genogram as a valuable tool for expanding comprehension of caregiving relationships and reinforcing the need for public policies and institutional practices that provide support and protection for informal caregivers.