Protocolo de alta hospitalar para o cuidado do idoso em domicílio

Abstract

Population aging in Brazil is occurring rapidly and at an unprecedented pace, constituting one of the greatest contemporary challenges for public health policies. The fragmentation of work processes across different levels of healthcare directly affects the guidance provided to older adults and their family caregivers at hospital discharge. The lack of clarity in the information, often without written documentation, hinders the older adult’s reintegration and adaptation at home. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a Hospital Discharge Protocol for the care of older adults at home. This is a qualitative methodological study conducted in three stages. (i) An integrative literature review was carried out to understand nurses’ perceptions regarding the hospital discharge process and served as the basis for (ii) constructing an instrument entitled Hospital Discharge Protocol for the care of older adults at home. (iii) The validation process of the Hospital Discharge Protocol for the care of older adults at home was conducted with 40 nurse judges who work directly with discharge processes. The mean age of participants was 36.17 years, and the average time since degree completion was 12.1 years. Concerning sex, 32 participants were female and eight were male. The nurses responded to a Likert-type questionnaire. Validation of the proposed instrument was achieved in its first version, with a satisfactory Content Validity Index (CVI) ranging from 0.97 to 1.0. The study concludes that its objectives were achieved, based on the results of the integrative literature review that supported the development of the Hospital Discharge Protocol for the care of older adults at home, and on the successful validation of the instrument in its first version, which achieved a satisfactory CVI score (0.97 to 1.0). The resulting product of this research, the “Hospital Discharge Protocol for the Care of Older Adults at Home,” has the potential to advance nursing and gerontology, both methodologically and in care. Additionally, it supports discussion of new practices and health policies for older adults requiring hospital care and their family caregivers. A limitation of this study is that it was conducted in a single hospital, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Future studies may evaluate the impact of this instrument on clinical practice and on patients’ post-discharge experiences, which may help determine the protocol’s effectiveness.