Home care presents itself as a new modality of care for the elderly, especially in Brazil , and has been inserted into public policies. This study aims to identify scientific productions about home care, in order to ascertain which are the contributions of this social dynamic in the elderly. The research was conducted in the databases MEDLINE and LILACS, with articles published between the years 2001- 2011, in Portuguese and English. The combination of keywords used was home care and elderly , elderly and care, and elderly and caregiver, and correspondents in Portuguese. The discussion highlighted the importance of home care, especially for lonely or neglected elderly. The review revealed few studies concerning the social dynamics in the home care of the elderly and the need to broaden the discussion beyond the field of health.
Home care; old age; health