Potencialidades do cuidado de enfermagem em equoterapia : um estudo de caso em criança com transtorno do espectro autista

Abstract

This study analyzed the potential of nursing care in hippotherapy at child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), highlighting the possibilities of performance of the nursing professional in the context of hippotherapy, using the Nursing Process and Social Stories in interventions. The study was carried out with a 3 (three) year old female child diagnosed with ASD and who was being followed up at the Alagoas Riding Therapy Association, located in the city of Maceió-AL, in the years 2020 and 2021. The research counted on his mother Who was invited as a collaborator due to the availability of a life narrative of the daughter with ASD, with information from the birth to the present that subsidized the stage of Data Collection (History) of the Nursing Process (NP), and, later, for a semi-structured interview to evaluate the results and contributions of nursing interventions. This study is qualitative in nature, narrative type of life, descriptive, with the use of the learning tool social, the Social Stories. The data were produced from five steps: 1) Narrative interview with the mother of the child selected for the study; 2) Observation of participating child during hippotherapy sessions; 3) Preparation of diagnoses nursing care for children with ASD based on ICNP ; 4) Planning and implementation of interventions for nursing supported by the Social Stories tool for teaching social skills and reinforcing learning in hippotherapy sessions; 5) Evaluation of results through a semi-structured interview with the mother of the child in the study to identify the results and contributions of nursing interventions. From the interventions carried out, the child with ASD presented significant improvements in ASD symptoms and disruptive behaviors. There was also a reduction in self-aggression and hetero-aggression behaviors, in addition to the promotion of benefits to the family. Added to this, it was possible to verify the effectiveness of care and of the nursing process, supported by the Social Stories tool in the context of hippotherapy for children with ASD. The contribution of this research lies in the dissemination of the practice of hippotherapy as a therapeutic method capable of minimizing the symptoms caused by ASD to the individual, as well as showing that the nursing will be able to act in this scenario, improving the prognosis and promoting the quality of life for the child and family. In addition to giving visibility to this field of performance for the nursing professional, since he can use the care and the nursing process in this scenario, contributing to the innovation of care in the nursing, to conventional therapeutic interventions that already exist for ASD.