Educational interventions by nurses in caregivers with their elderly patients at home

INTRODUCTION: The home is the natural setting for the development of informal care. The work that nurses are required to develop in this context (the carer/the elderly dependent/the home) focuses on training and educational activities to assist these two groups, such as demonstrating care activities to help dependent seniors, instruction in self-care techniques and teaching strategies for the use of human and material resources. AIMS: This article analyzes care education interventions performed by nurses, and the factors that facilitate, or limit, health care training. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH: This is a qualitative, descriptive study designed to be flexible and openly analytical in its approach to the research problem and the dynamic nature of the home environment. Triangulation of the methodological techniques and study subjects was applied. RESULTS: Nursing interventions related to professional attitudes, such as encouraging communication and facilitating teaching; communication interventions in health education and counseling; and technical interventions aimed at improving access to health information and support for the informal carer. Lack of will, the advanced age of the carer, emotional state and work overload are factors that undermine care instruction, which if reversed, would become learning facilitators. The lack of time and resources in the home are the major limiting factors on care teaching, according to nurses. Evidence from our study suggests that care in the home is considered a key primary health care strategy, one in which nurses play a significant role.