Resumen
INTRODUCTION: In care organizations for the elderly, the majority of professionals are unqualified formal caregivers, responsible for most of the care provided, who play a fundamental role in meeting the needs of the institutionalized elderly population, which is usually the one with the greatest needs for support due to functional limitations, the breakdown of family and social support networks and pluri-pathology, which of ten translate in to high levels of dependency and the need for support. OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the sociodemographic profile, training levels and quality of life of formal caregivers of care institutions for elderly people and to understand the relationship between the existence of training and quality of life levels. METHODS: an exploratory, descriptive, correlational and cross – sectional study with a sample of 254 individuals from 15 institutions in the Castelo Branco region. A questionnaire was used to collect socio- demographic data, educational and training profile, and the WHOQOL-BREF to evaluate the quality of life of these formal caregivers providing direct care for the elderly. Some characteristics of the training were also evaluated, defined according to the descriptors of the key competences of these professionals. RESULTS: The sample was exclusively female with a mean age of 44.12 years (SD = 10.24), mostly married (71.5%) and with children (85%). 68.3% had education until 9 years, and technical and vocational training was residual (6.7%). On average, they worked at same the institution for 7 years. 76.2% reported having training in the workplace, this training being carried out mainly in the workplace (65.1%) and in some basic skills (“Hygiene and comfort”, “Basic human care” and “Techniques of mobilization ,Positioning and transfers”) was performed in more than 40% of cases by colleagues with the same category and performing the same functions. In all dimensions of the instrument used to assess the quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), the scores obtained are lower than those of the group of healthy individuals in the instrument validation study for the Portuguese population. There were better levels of QoL in the Physical (p = 0.038), Psychological (p = 0.003) and Social domains (p = 0.009) in individuals who reported having training in the area in which they work. CONCLUSION: the results show the need to reflect on the profile of these workers, in preparation for the functions they perform and in their capacity to respond to the needs of the elderly, as a contribution to the improvement of the care provided.
