The ostomy chronic condition and its impact on the person’s life and family

Abstract

The present qualitative study had as objective to understand, from the perspective of the people who live with the ostomy chronic condition and their caretakers, what is the impact of this condition on their life and that of their families. We try to present here some seldom-viewed dimensions in the health care managing process, focusing mostly on the social and familial impact. We interviewed 8 people with ostomy (or their caretakers) who attended an Ostomy Ambulatory Center in the Center-West region of Brazil. We were able to understand that the battle against the ostomy chronic condition still takes place mostly in the home environment, most often at the exclusive expense of the patient and his/her family. We concluded it is important that the nursing and health professionals understand the ostomy chronic condition, in all of its different aspects, in order to then focus on a nursing care that attends, effectively, to the needs of the person in this condition.