The home visit: planning, safety, conduct and follow-up
- Safe practice
A home visit lets the team see how a family really lives, agree on care with them and check later that the plan is working.
What it is
The home (family) visit puts the health team in direct contact with the person, the family, the home and the neighbourhood. It identifies care needs and also needs related to the social determinants of health, and it involves the family in solving them. In Colombia the basic health team plans, carries out and follows up the visit; the nursing assistant usually makes the first contact and the family characterisation, and the findings are kept in the family folder and turned into an integral primary care plan. Safety matters: home-care workers face risks such as violence, unsafe neighbourhoods, animals, sharps injuries and lifting injuries.
What it requires
- A clear purpose agreed with the team and, when possible, with the family.
- Respect for the home as the family's space: ask permission, adapt to its rules and culture.
- Consent for assessment and care, and confidentiality of what is seen and heard.
- Written records in the family folder and referrals that are tracked.
Components
- Before: review earlier records, set objectives, prepare equipment and forms, plan the route and confirm the appointment.
- During: introduce yourself, assess the person, the family and the home, give health information, agree on commitments.
- After: record findings, make and track referrals, plan the next visit.
How it is applied (and why)
- Review the family folder and the reason for the visit — the team arrives knowing the history and the goal.
- Plan the route, timing and equipment, and tell the team where you are going — reduces risks and wasted trips.
- Introduce yourself, show identification, explain the purpose and ask permission to enter — builds trust and respects the home.
- Observe the safety of the setting on arrival and during the visit — leave and report if there is violence, threat or danger.
- Assess the person, the family and the home (housing, water, risks, networks) — the home shows needs the clinic cannot see.
- Give care or information as planned, with hand hygiene and standard precautions — prevents infection and sharps injuries.
- Agree on concrete commitments with the family and write them down — the plan only works if the family owns it.
- Record findings and referrals in the family folder the same day — keeps continuity across the team.
- Track referrals and check commitments at the next visit — follow-up turns a visit into continuous care.
In nursing practice
- Clear the work area of distractions, people and animals before a procedure.
- Use sharps with safety devices and carry a container for their disposal.
- Watch for home hazards such as clutter, poor lighting or oxygen near smoking, and agree on changes with the family.
- In unsafe areas, visit with an escort or in pairs and report hazards through the institution's system.
- A home visit does not replace prenatal, postpartum or newborn checks at the health facility; it complements them.
Common mistakes
- Arriving without reviewing records or without a clear objective.
- Entering without permission or judging how the family lives.
- Ignoring signs of danger to stay and finish the visit.
- Making referrals that nobody follows up.
- Leaving the record for later and losing details.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
What are the three phases of a home visit?
Before (plan and prepare), during (assess, act and agree on commitments) and after (record, refer and follow up).
What should the nurse do if a situation becomes unsafe during a home visit?
Leave the home, go to a safe place, inform the team and report the hazard through the institution's system.
Where are home-visit findings kept by Colombian basic health teams?
In the family folder (carpeta familiar), which also holds the characterisation, genogram, family APGAR, ecomap and the care plan.
Connections
Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.
Sources: Lineamientos para la organización y operación de los Equipos Básicos de Salud (Resolución 2788 de 2022): visita familiar y seguimiento (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, Colombia, 2023); Safety Risks Among Home Infusion Nurses and Other Home Health Care Providers (Markkanen P, Galligan C, Quinn M) (Journal of Infusion Nursing (PubMed Central), 2017); Resolución 3280 de 2018: intervenciones colectivas en el entorno hogar (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, Colombia, 2018).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.