Introduction:

Being the caregiver of a chronic patient with Alzheimer's increases the risk of affecting the quality of life. The hidden human cost is seen in the negative implications in social, emotional health, physical health and economic problems that lead to being an informal caregiver.

Objective:

To explore the phenomenon of hidden human cost of the life experience of an informal caregiver of the elderly with Alzheimer's.

Methods:

We report a case study of phenomenological approach. We carried out a semi-structured interview with one generating question and five to delve into the phenomenon of caring for an older adult with severe Alzheimer's. Data were analyzed in an artisanal way. The scientific rigor used was credibility and auditability.

Results:

The participant was a 53-year-old man, who was a caregiver for an older adult with Alzheimer's disease for seven years. From life experience, a meta-category and two categories emerged. The first category was the hidden human cost in the caregiver, consisting of the caring impact on his social relationships, overload and economic difficulty. The second was the coping implemented by the caregiver through recreational activities, religion and remembering the reason for caring.

Conclusions:

Knowing the hidden human cost of being a caregiver will provide evidence to establish future interventions and to meet the needs for biological, psychological, social and spiritual care of this vulnerable group.

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