[The family caring for the elderly. Analysis of stories].

The purposes of the present study were to characterize a group of family care providers who participated in a course on home care to elderly; to describe the support resources and systems that are necessary and available for the home care; to recognize the family's role in the home care to elderly. Eight care providers, from 39 to 65 years old, who live at the city of Ribeirão Preto participated in the study. The theoretical framework was based on the thematic oral history proposed by Meihy and the analysis of data was based on Bardin. The analysis was presented in 5 categories: 1. Elderly's dependence. 2. The process of elderly's home care. 3) Family organization regarding the care. 4) Care providers' reactions considering the experience of taking care of the elderly at home. 5) Resources that are necessary to support elderly's home care. These categories showed the process of providing care to dependent elderly patients, the experience of their families in the process of caring, the organization and reactions regarding the situations and resources available at the community.