Family needs a break: it takes care of people with mental disorder

Objective: To analyze the workload of family caregivers members of people with mental disorders assisted by a Psychosocial Care Center in Northern Ceara. Method: The sample consisted of 120 family members, using the Scale for Evaluation of Family Workload for data collection. Results: The majority of caregiver members were female, mother, and married, aged over 40 years, primary education not completed and was unemployed or housewife. The assistance to users in their everyday life was the domain that contributed most to the objective workload of these caregivers, while concerns about the patient, financial expenses and supervision of confusing behavior constituted the most subjective workload. Conclusion: The family became a partner in treatment and it needs special attention from professionals and health management aiming the physical privation and mental illness