Perception of professionals of the family health strategy on the population health needs

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the perception of professionals of the family health teams about the health care needs of the population, and to analyze how these needs are solved. Methods: It was a descriptive and qualitative research. Twenty-nine health care professionals were interviewed in five family health units, including six professionals from each unit, one from each professional category. The data collection was performed through oral interview and the application of a sociodemographic form. The content of the interviews was organized in speeches of the collective subject, and thematic content analysis was used for the analysis of the speeches. Results: The perceived health care needs reflected aspects of living conditions, access to health care technologies, creation of bonds and construction of autonomy. Actions described by the participants of the investigation such as group educational work, projects, partnerships, multiprofessional teamwork to improve health care as a whole, and initiatives to increase community bonds reveal a broader grasp of health care needs. However, there is difficulty in interpreting the social determination of the health-disease process by some interviewed professionals, who reported actions centered on the disease and prescriptive educational practices as a way to assist health care needs. Conclusion: The practice permeated by the curative care model in which the biological dimension of the health disease process prevails needs to be overcome, which implies an effort of the teams of translating and attending the needs brought by the population, thus guaranteeing the integrality of the attention.