[The home caregiver in Betim/MG]

This is a qualitative study about the care provided by "caregivers" enrolled in the Home Care Program in Betim, Minas Gerais. Interviews were held during home visits in order to identify characteristics of home care providers, analyze their perception about health care, verify factors which interfere in home care and relationships which are established between caregiver/person cared for/other family members. Discourse analysis (Fiorin, 1993) was used to build the empirical categories which revealed that most of the caregivers are family members, women, average age of 42 years, limited schooling, mostly housewives. The subjects sampled reported that the act of caring involves technique, duty and dedication. They referred to financial difficulties, physical and emotional stress. The relationships established during care involved feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and helplessness in the face of the needs and sufferings of the person cared for. The authors concluded that home care fosters more humane care, but requires technical guidance and emotional training for the caregivers and support from the health institution.