Involvement and fragmentation: a study of parental care of hospitalized children in Brazil

Parental involvement in the care of children who are hospitalized has been encouraged by the government in Brazil, as it has in the United Kingdom (UK). In this paper, key aspects of the UK, North American, and Latin American literature concerning parental participation are discussed, and implications for hospital care of children in Brazil are considered. A study of the division of work between nurses and the mothers (or other relatives) of 10 children hospitalized with chronic illnesses is reported. Data were collected by participant observation of child care in a Brazilian hospital. The results highlight some of the difficulties that arise in the integration of the work of mothers and nurses in hospital care of children and the fragmentation of care into "manual" and "intellectual" work. The results are considered within the theoretical framework of the model of technologic organization of work (Gonçalves, 1979, 1994). Implications for the organization of child care in the hospital are discussed.