ANÁLISE DE CORRESPONDÊNCIA SOBRE O PERFIL DE AVÓS IDOSOS CUIDADORES DE NETOS E PERCEPÇOES DE SAÚDE

Objective: to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic factors and health perceptions of elderly grandparents who care for their grandchildren, with the goal of defining profiles within this population. Methodology: an exploratory, quantitative, and analytical study based on a systematically randomized sample. A total of 392 elderly grandparents, registered in the Family Health Strategy of Uberaba/Minas Gerais, participated in the interviews. To identify similarity groups, correspondence analysis and hierarchical clustering were conducted, with the results presented in a dendrogram. Results: four distinct groups emerged: older grandmothers who are consistently satisfied with caring for their grandchildren, older grandfathers who are often satisfied, older grandparents with long life expectancy who receive family support in caregiving, and a group that displayed responses different from the others. Conclusion: the analysis provided valuable insights into the phenomenon of older grandparents caring for their grandchildren. The grouping in the dendrogram revealed differences based on factors such as race/skin color and social class, as well as the significant influence of health perceptions on the care provided to their grandchildren.