This research has a quality approach that aims at understanding the relationship between low-income families who provide fragile elderly people with health care at their own homes and social and health institutions. The methodology used is a case study of the ethnographic kind. Data were collected by means of participating observation and interview with four families. Three themes were identified in a content analysis: social support, relationship with health institutions, and relationship with the local health service. The families stress that access to health care services is appalling and that solidification of the Brazilian Public Health System is urgent, if it is to meet its function.
family; fragile elderly people; professional-family relationship; health system; home care services