Domiciliary care as a strategy for expanding the social relations of people with physical disabilities

Abstract

This study discusses domiciliary care as a strategy that creates opportunities for people with physical disabilities to be with. We started from the assumption that after the acquisition of disability people have less opportunity to exercise this being with, by which we mean the possibility of being together, amongst and in a relation with something or someone, which can be a source of well-being and help the person adapt to the condition of living with disability. We intend to discuss the importance of being with for people with disabilities, and of domiciliary care as a strategy that allows knowledge and expansion of these social relations. We studied the life stories of four adults with acquired physical disabilities, living in the area of a basic health care unit in São Paulo, and which represented in gender, age and type of disability the people with disabilities identified in the unit. The life stories were transcribed and analyzed in order to learn about the importance of being with, before and after the acquisition of disability. Data analysis was based on significant social network theory. The decrease in social relations due to absence from work and decreased circulation heavily influenced the person's condition after the acquisition of disability. The understanding of disability as a social condition allows us to consider domiciliary care as an intervention strategy, which can assist in reducing isolation, expanding social and support networks and creating opportunities for social circulation, all of which can be seen to unfold from the act of being with.