O cotidiano da família de crianças com transtorno do espectro autista à luz da teoria das transições de Meleis

Abstract

Introduction: Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exerts a strong influence on family dynamics with caregiver overload, usually the mother. The Unified Health System needs to provide comprehensive, longitudinal and coordinated care aimed at strengthening the patient-family binomial and the full development and insertion of these children in society, in a multidisciplinary and comprehensive way. ASD significantly impacts the lives of affected individuals and their families. They face daunting challenges and multiple demands in their daily lives, when compared to parents of children with other disabilities or parents of typically developing children. Motivated by this context, evidence from the literature and the need to expand the possibilities of care for nursing with the support of nursing theories. Objective: To understand the daily life of the family of a child with ASD in the light of Meleis' Theory of Transitions and contributions to nursing care. Methodology: Descriptive exploratory study with a qualitative approach. Data were collected at the Riding Therapy Association of Alagoas, located in the city of Maceió -AL. The population corresponds to parents of children diagnosed with ASD. The collection was carried out from June to July 2022 using a form for data characterizing the families based on medical records, genograms and ecomaps, and an interview mediated by the life history narrative. Data were analyzed in the light of Afaf Meleis' nursing theory. Results: 5 family members participated in the study. From their stories and genogram and ecomap data, we sought to respond to the objectives in the light of Meleis' Theory. The results are to reveal the understanding of the daily life of parents of children with ASD in order to promote and list contributions to nursing, with a view to enhancing more representativeness and autonomy in the care of children with such specificities, with the intention that in own nursing consultations that screening is increasingly incisive and its diagnosis much earlier, based on a theoretical framework according to the results obtained Conclusion: In view of the study, the theory made it possible to present the reflections in the understanding of the particularities that involve children with ASD in the face of challenging scenarios, from this perspective, it is of paramount importance to understand the concepts of Meleis' Theory of Transitions so that users of health services commonly experience transitions throughout their lives, for example, those triggered by illness. Through culturally congruent care with the client's real needs, their state of well-being can be achieved, as well as facilitating the reformulation of identity and behavior change.