Contextual analysis of health care at discharge in leprosy: an integrative review.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze contextual relations of health care in the discharge of leprosy.

METHOD: An analytical, reflexive study based on the theoretical framework of context analysis, elaborated through an integrative review of literature in the databases SCOPUS, PUBMED, LILACS, SCIELO and BDENF, with uncontrolled descriptors Leprosy and Patient Discharge, obtaining 14 publications.

RESULTS: The immediate context addresses health care at discharge in leprosy; the specific context treats leprosy as a public health problem; the symbolic conceptions and marks involving leprosy are encompassed by the general context; and in the metacontext are described the health programs and policies that subsidize the care of leprosy patients.

CONCLUSION: The contextual elements emphasize the need to guarantee universal coverage of cases of leprosy, from diagnosis to the post-discharge, reinforcing leprosy as a public health problem. Despite the limitations of the bibliographic studies, these have relevance for the health area.