Objective: to ascertain the association
between the social support and the quality of life of
relative caregivers of elderly dependents at home.
Method: a cross-sectional study conducted with
58 relative caregivers of elderly dependents, registered
in the Family Health Strategy. Data were
collected from the Katz instrument, sociodemographic,
Zarit Burden Interview, WHOQOL-bref,
and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple
linear regression. Results: the majority of
caregivers were women, who took care full-time
and presented moderate to severe burden. Most
caregivers are satisfied with their social relationships
and the social support received. It is found
that the burden and the time of care correlated
with the social relationships domain, which is
associated with social support, and consequently,
reduced quality of life. Conclusion: social support
for caregivers is important to prevent health
implications, burden, biopsychosocial stress, and
provide favorable conditions for quality of life, by
allowing greater freedom to develop their daily
activities.