HOME VISIT IN THE HEALTH FIELD: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Home visit has been used by several health professionals. The aim of this paper is to perform a literature review on the use of home visits as a work tool. We will also try to deeply analyze the papers in which psychologists use home visit as a work strategy. Method: A literature review performed on the Scielo, Bireme, and PsycINFO databases, from January to April/2014. The inclusion criteria were full papers, published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, in the last 10 years. Results: A total of 1, 015 papers with the term “home visit” either in the title, abstract, or keywords was found, but only 489 (48.2%) followed the initial inclusion criteria. From the papers analyzed, home visits were used as a tool of care by the primary care staff, as an intervention directed to patients with chronic conditions, and as an instrument to collect data for researches. Only 8 papers described the use of home visits by psychologists. Conclusion: There is a shortage of papers on home visit as an intervention technique, for both professionals in general and psychologists. Therefore, it is important that this care strategy be thought from a critical and ethical perspective. Av. Ipiranga, 6681, Prédio 11, Porto Alegre/RS. CEP: 90619-900. Telf.: (51) 3320 3550. e-mail: katiabonesrocha@gmail.com VISITA DOMICILIAR NO CONTEXTO DA SAÚDE www.sp-ps.pt 171