Cuidar a criança-família oriunda dos Palop

: a diferença na igualdade

Abstract

The Portuguese State, in order with historical, social-economics, cultural and solidarity reasons, is one of the supporters in what regards the improvement of the healthcare of the citizens from the African Countries of Portuguese as Official Language (ACPOL), being the medical assistance in Portugal, considered as an "important strategic tool in the reinforce of the international cooperation in the Health domain" (Direcção Geral de Saúde, 2008). The establishment of Cooperation Accords in the Health Domain between the Portuguese Government and the ones of the ACPOL, result that, annually, Portugal faces a considerable number of children/families from these countries for the realization of treatments. Meanwhile, the referred accords, not always answer the needs of those children/families, who will face several obstacles when they'll try to get access to healthcare in the hosting country (Alves e Namora, 2010). Nurses, during their everyday work, face the need of offering transcultural cares, with the risk of the emerging of some difficulties, not only in terms of communication, but as well of cultural nature, religious and values between the child/family that are taking care of and themselves, knowing that they have as well their own values, beliefs and culture. This type of situation is frequent and the understanding of some specific details can drive to a establishment of an environment of trust and reliance, avoiding this way possible conflicts, and becoming easier the engage with the treatment and raising the level of satisfaction of the child/family from the ACPOL. In this way arrives the present report, in the sequence of a Probation Project that took place in two distinct modules, in which the action of the Masters' student, following a descriptive, analytic and reflexive methodology, was driven to the Care a Child/Family from the ACPOL, in context of Primary Healthcare and Differentiated Cares, having as base, the theory of the model proposed by Madeleine Leininger (Theory of Diversity and Universality). It is pretended to show the developed competences that allowed to contribute to an answer for the presented problematic and to the needs of those children/families, focusing the cares "in the human answers to the experienced transitions by the persons and families all along their vital cycle using knowledge generated through investigation and nursing theory (where the advanced nursing is pointing at)" (Silva, 2007:19). It still exists a long way to run, meanwhile, there is the belief that with the realization of this work, little steps were made towards the promotion of good actions in the approach to the child/family from the ACPOL, appealing conscientiously the healthcare professionals for the problematic and the main necessity of the inclusion of cultural aspects in the cares, becoming easier the access/orientation at the healthcare services, and most of all, promoting the human side of the care of these children/families.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Lília Rosa Alexandre Vara (Supervisor)