Aim:

Characterize caregivers in the 12 months after the patient's death (sociodemographic data, clinical follow-up, health problems, and pharmacological therapy).

Methods:

We conducted an observational, retrospective, and analytical study at the primary health care level. The population consisted of caregivers, identified by the family doctor, of the deceased patients in 2017. After sending an invitation to the participation of all Functional Units, data were obtained that allowed characterizing the caregivers and clinical follow-up in the first year of bereavement through the family physicians who agreed to participate. For the descriptive analysis, we used absolute and relative frequencies, median, minimum, and maximum.

Results:

Of the 308 caregivers, we highlight the representativeness of the elderly (median age - 66.5 years) and women (79.2%), as well as the exclusive follow-up by the family doctor in 93.2% of the situations. New prescribing and/or dosage changes of psychotropic drugs occurred in 35.1% of caregivers, contrasting with the low follow-up rate in psychology (3.5%) and/or psychiatry (4.2%) and the lack of evaluation of risk in bereavement and provided support tools.

Conclusion:

The characteristics of the caregivers agreed with those described in the literature. The medicalization of mourning may reflect a lack of training, consultation time, and resources of psychology and psychiatry. The essential role of the family doctor in supporting bereavement is proved; the implementation of institutional and organizational measures can improve bereavement care.

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