Caring Senior: A Brazilian health model with emphasis at light care levels

Abstract

The present article discusses the creation of an elderly care model entitled Caring Senior. Population aging caused by demographic and epidemiological changes in Brazil, a relatively recent phenomenon, requires an efficient response. Based on a critical analysis of healthcare models for the elderly, the text presents a proposal for the healthcare of this age group, with emphasis on low intensity levels of care, focusing on health promotion and prevention, in order to avoid overload in the system. Integrated care models aim to solve the problem of fragmented and poorly coordinated care in current health systems. The more health professionals know about the history of their patients, the better the results. This is how the contemporary and resolutive models of care recommended by most major national and international health agencies should function. A higher quality, more resolutive and cost-effective care model is the focus of the present study.

Conditioning factors for nurses to defend the autonomy of the elderly on the terminality of life

“…Many health institutions maintain the administration of services under the influence of the biomedical care model instituted in the late 18th century, which has the following main characteristics: being curative and hospital-centered; focus on doctors the administration and decision-making about therapies and aiming at disease control and the medicalization of life (2,4) . Thus, the biomedical model affects the organization of health practice and limits or nullifies the professional autonomy of nurses (6)(7) .…”

“…Among the dilemmas of this model, we highlight the increase in the elderly population, which is invariably accompanied by the high incidence of NCDs. In the face of a diagnosis that threatens the continuity of an elderly's life, it is necessary to review the context and the care planning, since the orientation of the practice exclusively by the cure paradigm, to the detriment of the care paradigm, causes exacerbation of suffering, anguish, dysthanasia, in addition to threatening to collapse the Brazilian health system (2) .…”

“…According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "a child born in Brazil in 2015 can expect to live 20 years longer than a child born 50 years ago" (1) . With this statistic, the country has a population projection of about 32 million older adults for 2020 (2) .…”

“…However, the years added to individuals do not occur evenly due to social and economic inequalities between countries. However, it is undeniable that the increase in life expectancy and the hope of enjoying a more dignified old age represent a social gain never seen in another moment in human history (1)(2)(3) .…”

“…Although public policies advocate healthy aging, the reality is that the majority of the elderly are affected by chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which require frequent and prolonged hospitalizations. Such factors can affect the elderly's ability to participate in decisions regarding their own lives and the process of dying (2)(3)(4) .…”