Objective:

To describe the impact of an educational program with a cultural perspective for family caregivers of elderly people with functional dependence in three groups culturally diverse in self-perception in health, family functionality and its relation to the care burden.

Materials and methods:

Quantitative intervention study before and after an educational program for family caregivers of elderly people with functional dependence. 88 caregivers from three cultural groups participated: inhabitants of the urban area of Bogotá (30), Peasants-Cáqueza (26) and Afro-Colombians-Guapi (32). Information was gathered with the Self-perception of Health, Family Apgar and Zarit test, which measure the burden of care. Descriptive analysis and Wilcoxon nonparametric sign-rank test in each group and Spearman correlation test were performed.

Results:

The program had a statistically significant effect on the self-perception of health in peasants (p 0.018) and Afro-Colombians (p 0.048). The family functionality variable did not obtain statistically relevant results in any of the three groups. However, a significant association of care burden with family functionality was found in all three groups during the post-test (peasants: p: 0.024, Afro-Colombians: p: 0.00, urban p: 0.012), and a relationship of care burden and self-perception during the post-test in Afro-Colombians only (p: 0.022).

Conclusion:

In two of the groups involved, the program generates a statistically relevant effect on the self-perception of health of caregivers. There is a relationship between family functionality in the post-test with the burden of care in the three culturally diverse groups, which is statistically relevant, and there is a relationship between self-perception and burden of care in the post-test in the group of Afro-Colombians which is statistically significant.

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