[Working with vulnerable families: a nurse home visiting perspective]

This study defines a vulnerable group in a community that has become the main target of a national health project also, it is descriptive research to suggest an evidence-based direction to meet their deficit health-related needs.

This research examined 833 families and 1,835 family members of the financially vulnerable class that was registered in a home visiting program of a public health center. Among them, 892 persons who had health problems, and their family members were examined in detail to find out their characteristics of vulnerability and health needs by assessment during a nurses home visit. Frequency distribution, stepwise-regression and factor analysis were used to analyze the data.

The vulnerable group that was defined with social indexes set as standards, involved substantial characteristics of vulnerability. The characteristics of demand showed tendencies of being clustered in 5 factors needs of intensive nursing care, chronic nursing care problems and helplessness, maintenance of family functioning with a disability, deficient problem solving ability, and simple financial fragility.

Categorization of needs is an evidence-based estimator of workload in nurse home visiting services, and can be used as a basic resource for direction to meet the deficit needs of a vulnerable group.