Relevant aspects of home care in scientific brazilian nursing production

Abstract

This is an integrative review that aims to identify the most relevant aspects on home care in Brazilian scientific research. Fifty-one (51) indexed productions were assessed from MEDLINE, SciELO, LILACS and BDENF. Data analysis shows that in 19.6% of the researched productions, home care enables a close relationship with the client, and in 27.5% of the cases it improves life quality. In 7.8% of the studies the importance of family participation in home care is described. Educational home activities were pointed as another home care benefit and were marked as one of the most important actions carried out by nurses (9.8%). Nevertheless, some shortcomings were also shown such as lack of qualified professionals for the role and the fact that it is seen as an extension of hospital care (3.9% each). Almost 8% of the studies claim that professionals only meet clients'and families'primary needs and don't take advantage of the innumerous possibilities they have. We can conclude that there are benefits and shortcomings in home care and advances are extremely necessary. Home care is expressed in a way to guarantee bigger autonomy and professional visibility, although we know a discussion about home care must be extended to all country regions and a joint effort is imperative in order to build up proposals that meet these professional's need of qualification.