Dementia, family caregivers and health service: the care of yourself and the other.

This study sought to identify the perception of the family caregivers regarding care provided by them and the ESF to the elderly with dementia. This qualitative, analytical and descriptive research was carried out through semi-structured interviews, with five family caregivers users of a primary care facility organized by the ESF, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The collected material was submitted to the French School of discourse analysis. Analysis of the symptoms that affect the routine and the feelings of the caregiver generate considerable changes. Family history, family coping with difficult situations, and support for backwardness represented by lack of support from other family members and the State intensify care-related problems. Self-abdication, isolation, and negative subjective interpretations are the producers and aggravators of the psychic distress of family caregivers. Despite its limitations, the ESF receives seniors with dementia and caregivers, but it is not considered a reference of care by family caregivers. Family caregivers affirm that what intensifies the challenges of care is the situation of abandonment experienced by them, impacting as subjective dynamics of oppression and self-abdication, leading to conflicts that reflect in the care situation.