O trabalho da equipe de saúde da família em áreas de vulnerabilidade elevada

Abstract

In Family Healthcare Strategy, the work of teams must consider the needs of users in their territories rendering it possible to overcome inequities and inequalities in access to healthcare in areas of high vulnerability. The main objective of this study was to understand the Family Health teams work in high vulnerability areas and as secondary goals to identify the activities carried out in those territories by the professionals of family health teams in vulnerable areas and identify the intervening factors in the work of family health teams in vulnerable areas. This is a single case study, with a qualitative approach. Twenty-four professionals from Family Health teams participated in the study, distributes in three Health Centers in the North region, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, among physicians, nurses, nursing technicians and community healthcare agents and three key informants, 02 unit managers and 01 social worker, totalizing 27 interviewees. Data were collected by means of semi-structured script interviews and direct observation, from September to December 2019. The interviews were submitted to thematic content analysis and the direct observations enriched the data analysis process. Three categories of analysis were defined: "Activities of the Family Health teams and the demands of the population in vulnerable territories"; "Public facilities in vulnerable territories" and "The work of healthcare professionals in areas of high vulnerability: facilitators and hinderers". The first category describes the activities of the Family Health teams including individual and collective assistance and administrative activities, based on the demands presented by vulnerable area communities. The second category addresses the availability of public services in these territories, revealing that there are weaknesses in the articulation between these facilities. The third category deals with key factors influencing the professionals daily work, such as access to healthcare services, the effective creation of bonds between users and caregivers and community, the delay in scheduling specialized consultations, unfavorable geographical location of healthcare units and the inadequate staff dimensioning. It is concluded that the daily work of Family Health teams in areas of high vulnerability is driven by the context in which these teams are inserted, therefore, it is essential to take in account the specificities of users in their territories when planning conjoint actions with other intersectoral public facilities. This study made it possible to identify existent gaps in healthcare and other public policies, offering subsidies to rethink the need to expand access to these policies in order to improve quality of life of the population in these territories.