Roles and place of the patient's companion in hospital establishments in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso)

Abstract

The hospital environment is a social field where several actors, and therefore various systems of representation, rub shoulders daily. The roles of caregivers and patients are legitimised and their place is guaranteed, given the laws and texts that confer on them. On the other hand, the prerogatives and limits of the action of the companion remain nebulous in care practices. Hence, this study aims to identify the role and place of the patient's companion in hospitals. This qualitative research took place in four public and private hospitals on a sample constituted by reasoning. It carried out direct non-participant observations of caregiver-patient interactions and 63 semi-directed individual interviews with caregivers, hospitalised patients and their companions. The results show that their roles can be grouped into two categories: the satisfaction of the patient's health needs, their well-being and their development. As for its place, even if caregivers recognize its role in care delivery, they find that some attitudes and behaviors compromise the achievement of quality care. On the side of patients, the absolute majority want to be hospitalized with a loved one as a companion. For them, their presence humanizes hospitalization, consolidates social ties, maintains the social capital of the patient, compensates for the dysfunction of care units, reassures and provides security. Despite the controversy over its place, the companion remains an essential link in the chain of holistic patient care.