Percepções maternas sobre as visitas domiciliares em um programa de fortalecimento da primeira infância em Fortaleza, Ceará.

Abstract

Numerous national and international programs aimed to strengthen child development use as a strategy of home visiting, as a very useful means of approaching families. Although the home visitation programs maintain certain characteristics that justify their nature, there are different analyzes regarding the evaluation of the results of this strategy. The objective of the study was to understand certain aspects regarding the care practices and conceptions about child development, from the perspective of the mothers of children, in the First Childhood, in a situation of social vulnerability; to understand how they perceived the realization of the home visit in an innovative format, as well as the changes in care relationships and the strengthening of bonding with their children, from intervention mediated by the community health agent (ACS), in the context of the Grow With Your Child Program, in Fortaleza, Ceará. The study, carried out from 2015 to 2017, in two different moments, used a qualitative approach, being of the exploratory and descriptive type, adopting as data collection procedures the semi-structured individual interview applied to the mothers and / or caregivers residing in Fortaleza’s Regional VI region, in the neighborhoods Barroso, Conjunto Palmeiras and Jangurussu. A total of 57 interviews were conducted, of which 35 occurred at the first moment of the study and 22 at the second. Results: In the first phase of the study, child development and care were related to essential care and protection, strengthening of bonds and access to social rights. Regarding the difficulties in between the practice of caring, they mentioned as important: daily care, health problems of the child and absence and / or low parental involvement. In the second period of the research, referring to the maternal apprehensions of the home visit and the changes perceived after the intervention, emphasis was placed on children's development, support and guidance to the family, promotion of playful activities and strengthening of affective bonds. Conclusion: the research participants valued the methodology adopted by the focused Program, suggesting the continuation and expansion of this strategy to other families in situations of social vulnerability and institutional support to families, through intersectoral strengthening. The apprehensions obtained in the study indicate that there have been improvements in parental relationships, especially in relation to the strengthening of bonds and playful activities, with a view to a greater perception of child development.