Unique therapeutic project: bringing together patient and caregiver

In Brazil, since the NHS was established, there is an attempt to bring health to those in need. It is one of the proposals of complete care. One major example is the Home Care, which bring us the Single Project Therapeutics that makes the multidisciplinary team, the caregiver and the patient, active subjects in "health-disease" process. The aim of this study is to demonstrate how this approach can be important for improving patient’s life quality. The patient, female, age 78, was assisted by our team for a month. She was suffering of recurrent depressive disorder and dementia symptoms, detected by the three words test. She also had polyarthralgia with pain on her hips and knees. Furthermore, the patient resided in an unsuitable environment and was socially isolated. There was a constant misunderstanding between the husband, her caregiver, and the multidisciplinary team, as he applied his intuition and life experiences to the daily practice of patient’s care rather than follow the health team guidelines. The therapeutic methods devised by the team were the improvement of the house’s structure, the patient’s inclusion in society again through religious groups and carry out activities that approached the patient and her husband. The team also took playful materials that helped on remedies’ management and activities to exercise the patient’s memory. The team observed a greater independence of the patient and an increase of her life’s quality. Thus, we promoted the stimulation of her autonomy and the improvement of the relation between her and the caregiver.