Abstract

DIAZ NOVAS, José; GALLEGO MACHADO, Bárbara Rosa  and  LEON LOPEZ, Rogelio. Home visit. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.1. ISSN 0864-2125.

A summary of the history of home visit in Cuba is made, stressing its evolution in the different organizative ways of primary care in the revolutionary stage. The advantages of home visits, their need as a fundamental and irreplaceable component of the patients' care and a necessary complement of the work in the office are given. The reasons of the visits are explained: acute diseases, chronic processes, disabilities, evaluation of the family and hygienic-epidemiological setting of the patient, home admissions, early hospital discharges, and patients with end-stage diseases, or with categorized diseases, among others. Some instructions for the success of home visit are exposed.

Keywords : Home visit; family; family functioning.