Families of hospitalized children/adolescents: the group as a strategy of care - doi: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v11i2.19613

Abstract

The Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA - Brazil) published in the 1990s determine that family caregivers of children/adolescents must be accepted in the pediatric hospital units. Thus, the presence of a family in this space, allows possible development of health education actions. This article aims to report the experience of developing health education activities with hospitalized children and adolescents’ family caregivers, using the group as a strategy in a teaching hospital in southern Brazil. The family group meeting has been held since July 2008 and among the actions taken, it is highlighted the ones that facilitate the relationship between the nursing staff and family caregivers, the training to home care, offer of emotional support, and the promotion of family-centered care. The issues are brought by family caregivers and are, therefore, valued as generative themes of the debate and after the decoding and recoding issue, produce new knowledge in a genuine alliance of knowledge. Positive results are pointed out by caregivers and nursing staff, highlighting the articulation of knowledge in the group space.