Home care caregivers knowledge about infections related to health care

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the home care caregivers knowledge about infections related to the health assistance and to analyze how this knowledge influence on the infection prevention.

Method: Descriptive and exploratory research, with qualitative approach, conducted with 75 caregivers of patient hospitalized at home. The data was produced through a semi-structured interview script, from August to September, 2016, processed on the IRAMUTEQ software and analyzed by the descending hierarchical ranking.

Results: The results were presented with two axis: Axis     1 – Risk factors that contribute to the home infection by the caregiver point of view, containing the classes – Class 3 – Sanitation and caring with the food in the home ambient; Class – 4 – Home ambient cleaning; Class – 5 – The handling of patient with infection risks; Class 6 – Cares on the prevention of infections in the home ambient; Axis 2 – The concept of home infection to the caregiver, containing the classes – Class 1 – The knowledge about the disease on the daily routine; Class 2 – The concept of the infection based on the dirtiness and on the disease.

Final considerations: The home care caregivers showed to know the relation between the lack of sanitation in the ambient and the infected food. In this sense, the caregivers recognize that the risks which their patient are exposed. They report the disease and the dirtiness as inherent to the infection concept and recognize the lack of security and quality in its practice. From this knowledge analyzes it is possible to propose intervention strategies that generate reflexes about the home care problematic, specially to the more dependents patients who need a safe care to prevent and treat the infections related to the health assistance. 

Key-word: Caregiver, Health education; Community infection