Introduction:

The figures corresponding to terminally ill patients, both worldwide and in Cuba, are alarming, a reason why it is necessary to study the preparation of the caregivers of these patients.

Objective:

To characterize the caregiver of the terminally ill patient, their preparation, experience, knowledge about care and emotional overload in San Luis Municipality.

Methods:

A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in the period 2017-2019, with a universe of 47 caregivers, to whom a nonprobabilistic sampling was applied. The sample was made up of twenty caregivers who met the established inclusion criteria and gave their informed consent. The instruments used were the individual interview and the Zarit Caregiver Load Scale. Empirical and statistical methods were used. The texts were processed with Word XP. The tables and graphs were made with Excel XP.

Results:

There was a prevalence of pre-university education level and married as marital status. The most frequent degree of kinship in the sample was made up of children who had no previous caregiving experience. The most frequent causes of terminal illnesses were dementias.

Conclusions:

Those over sixty years of age predominated, as well as the female sex with little knowledge about care, which influenced the high emotional overload present in them.

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