Social support for family caregivers of children and youth with special health care needs for home care: a scoping review.
Mariane Caetano Sulino-Gonçalves, Regina Aparecida Garcia de Lima, Fabrine Aguilar Jardim and 7 others
PMID 40657880WHAT IT FOUND
Family caregivers of children needing home care relied mainly on relatives, friends, other parents, volunteers and religious groups for emotional, practical and financial help.
Formal health services were often secondary, leaving gaps in discharge guidance, benefits information and respite.
Key findings
01Family caregivers relied mainly on informal networks, including relatives, friends, other parents, volunteer groups and religious institutions, for emotional, practical and financial help.
02Formal health and education support was often seen as secondary, with gaps in information about direct care, social rights and benefits.
03Caregivers wanted closer monitoring and clearer communication from health professionals because many felt unprepared for home care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It is a scoping review, so it maps what has been studied rather than testing whether social support improves care or family well-being. The included studies used different definitions of special health care needs and social support, making direct comparison difficult. Most evidence came from interviews with family caregivers, often mothers, and did not measure objective outcomes. The review reports gaps in formal support and benefits information, but it does not show how much any one strategy helps.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that social support improves health or caregiver outcomes. The review maps caregiver-reported support and gaps, mostly from qualitative studies, so it cannot show that giving more support causes improvement.