Therapeutic itinerary of a deaf child in the Network of Health Care

Abstract

Introduction: In children, hearing impairment is more serious than in adults or elders, because it interferes in the language acquisition and development. For this reason, there must be a healthcare network aimed at offering diagnoses and medical intervention quickly. Objective: to analyze child hearing care as from the therapeutic itinerary (TI) of a deaf child using the services of a Centro de Reabilitação Auditiva (Hearing Rehabilitation Centre). Methods: this research is a case study of qualitative nature. Our starting point was the health services of a city in the urban area of Campinas/SP, and also some regional references. We conducted an in-depth interview with the child’s mother for the reconstruction of the TI and 10 semi-structured interviews with managers and professionals in order to obtain information about the type of hearing care. Results: the maternity unit was important for the early detection of hearing impairment, but there were flaws in the screening protocol it employed. The Rehabilitation Centre fulfilled its role, but there was an unmet need of rehabilitation services in the home city of the users. There were also flaws in the healthcare coordination of the Unidade Básica de Saúde (Primary Health Unit) for deaf children. Conclusion: The reconstruction of the TI was an important tool to analyze the completeness of attention to health services, allowing us to understand the user’s real story in the search for health care and the way the healthcare network operates.