Perception of the home caretaker of individuals with cerebral palsy about architectural barriers and accessibility

Abstract

The daily routine of the home caretaker of an individual with cerebral palsy (CP) it involves conditions interrelated to the architectural barriers and accessibility in the urban space. The present study aimed at to analyze the home caretaker's perception about architectural barriers and accessibility of the individuals with CP, in the municipal district of Maringá - PR. This is a study of qualitative character carried out in March 2010. Home caretakers of students with CP, residents in Maringá/PR and enrolled in the School of Special Education "Albert Sabin", were interviewed. From the perceptions of 79 caretakers, three categories emerged: The architectural barriers hinder the integration in the society: accessibility means the integration of the individual with deficiency in the society, in the sense of mobilization and shifting, access to the health services and manner of being treated by the others; Collective space: the theme represents life in a collective space and dependence of improvement in the accessibility, comparing intermunicipal relationships, downtown/districts, house/street, and co-responsibilities in the urban architecture, public or private; The caretaker's adaptation: adaptation either, physical, emotional or social. Nursing should be engaged in the fight for inclusion measures of the home caretakers and of the individuals with CP in the society, which is still a target of disregards and prejudices, as inherent condition to the right of health for all.