Caregivers’ perception of pediatric ambulatory medical care and adherence to indications, national institute of children’s health

Abstract

Adherence to treatment and medical indications by caregivers of children depend on the treatment they receive from medical professionals, knowledge and understanding of the disease and the indications, which is subject to good communication and interrelationship. between the two, which must be taken into account during care.

Objective: To explore and analyze the perception of caregivers about pediatric outpatient medical care and adherence to indications, 2023.

Methodology: qualitative research with a descriptive case study approach, based on the definition of Yin (1994) and Wolcott (1999); Research subjects: 14 caregivers who attended the INSN outpatient clinic with their children in different specialties, selected by saturation or redundancy technique and inclusion criteria. Data collection was done through a semi-structured interview guide, applied with prior informed consent, it was carried out in an outpatient setting when leaving the office of any specialty, recorded on an electronic device; duration 30-40 minutes, then they were transcribed in Word as they were expressed and validated by contrasting responses by the informants themselves. The information was subjected to content analysis.

Results: From the product of the analysis and interpretation of the speeches, six categories were obtained, thus we have: Category I. Physician-caregiver relationship with a socio-cultural conflict. C.II. hegemony of the biologist model, C. III. conception of health-disease from the perception of the caregiver, C. IV. knowledge of the disease, adherence to treatment and care, C.V. Appointment system: obstacles and difficulties, C. VI. Humanize medical care. The consideration of ethical principles and scientific rigor during the entire research process is highlighted.

Final considerations: The perception of child caregivers about medical care in the INSN outpatient clinic refers to communication barriers in the doctor-caregiver relationship, both verbal’s, non-verbal, and written. They highlight, in a general way, not being listened to, nor taking their information into account. On the other hand. A high level of adherence to medical instructions was found, which were based on three very important factors, two of which correspond to the caregiver and the third factor to medical personnel: the caregiver’s knowledge of the child’s disease, the conception of the health-disease process and the planned follow-up.

Recommendations: Train by occupational groups involved in direct patient care on soft skills. Improve processes so that care does not delay from arrival to care, and those medical prescriptions are printed. Strengthen the skills of medical personnel for a cordial and objective communication to the caregiver about the disease, in reporting bad news and, above all, following up on patients; recognizing their value as a human person in their social, cultural, family essence in the health-disease process and not purely biological.