The advancement of life support technologies has increased the survival of children with serious pathologies and sequelae, categorized as NANEAS (Children and Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs) of medium and high complexity. At the Hospital de Niños Dr. Roberto del Río, a care team for NANEAS was organized in 2014, which has made home visits to medically complex patients since 2015.
Objective: To characterize the population attended at home and the care modality.
Patients and method: Retrospective descriptive study by reviewing the clinical file of NANEAS patients seen at home in this period.
Results: 581 visits were analyzed in 81 patients, median 8 years, 78% men, 63% institutionalized, 78% with neurological diseases. 75% were of high and medium complexity according to the SOCHIPE classification. Of the visits, 71% were in rural places, median travel time 60 minutes and direct attention 26 minutes. 60% of the visits were made to patients with medical devices, 99% attended by a pediatrician, 33% a nurse and 68% another professional, who in 61% corresponded to the child neurologist.
Conclusions: The highest proportion of patients seen are of high and medium complexity with medical devices and with underlying neurological pathology, so it is important to have a neurologist in the interdisciplinary team. Many of the visits are made in places distant from the hospital center due to the difficulty of transferring these patients. This modality of care promotes a better quality of life for medically complex children and their families.
Key words: home care, pediatric palliative care, children and adolescents with special health care needs. |
