Abstract

CARDONA, Mónica Johana Muñoz  and  HERRERA, María del Carmen Zea. NEED OF CULTURALLY COHERENT CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE. Enfermería [online]. 2017, vol.6, n.1, pp.25-36. ISSN 1688-8375.  https://doi.org/10.22235/ech.v6i1.1306.

One of the goals of this study was to know the care practices performed by caregivers who look after people with cardiovascular disease at the end of their life. A qualitative research was conducted using the particularist-ethnographic method in Medellín, Colombia, between September 2014 and June 2015. The participants were all women, family caregivers of persons presenting cardiovascular disease in their final stage of life. The study was carried out in three scenarios: patient homes, hospital centers and a geriatric center with a palliative care unit. The analysis of the data lead to the emergence of the Caring Practices category, which includes four subcategories: a. To be alert: insisting with the patient, providing respiratory, feeding and hydration care, checking body temperature, urinary and fecal elimination, mobility and posture, providing skin, hygiene and esthetic care. b. To mitigate any pain and suffering. c. Spiritual care. d. Palliative care. From the study it can be concluded that good caring practices demand that family caregivers must have specific knowledge to properly look after people with cardiovascular disease in the final stage of life, and also about the pathology itself. It is also required an approach from the point of view of human multiple dimensionality in order to make correct and culturally respectful decisions, with care oriented both to the patient and the caregiver.

Keywords : Nursing Research; Qualitative Research; Palliative Care; Cardiovascular Diseases; Ethnography.

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