Introduction:

Psychology gives great importance to the studies related to psychological well-being, and the clinical care of primary informal caregivers, as they constitute a group vulnerable to suffer physical and psychological effects.

Objective:

To characterize the psychological well-being in primary informal caregivers of patients with head and neck cancer.

Methods:

A descriptive-correlational study, with a mixed methodology was carried out. The sample consisted of 100 primary informal caregivers of patients with head and neck cancer hospitalized in the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology of Havana, from December 2016 to March 2017, who met the inclusion criteria. For the collection of information it was applied the interview with subject types and as instrument the Scale of Psychological well-being for Adults (BIEPS-A). Informed consent was requested for caregiver’s participation.

Results:

The results revealed low levels of psychological well-being, being autonomy the most deteriorated dimension in caregivers of the study and it was evidenced an inversely proportional interaction between this dimension and the emotional bond with the patient.

Conclusions:

The psychological well-being of carers decreases due to the damages to their physical and mental health caused by the limitations to which they are subject in the personal and work context and due to the predominance of negative emotional states. Their positive expressions are only related to reasons that moved them to assume the role of caregiver, to the expertise gained during the care and to the possibility to accompany their relative during the illness and treatment.

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