A prevenção da violência na concepção dos profissionais da atenção primária à saúde de Belo Horizonte

Abstract

Violence is a complex phenomenon which becomes more alarming every day, with devastating impact on the lives of individuals, families and collectivity. It consists, thus, on an issue of public health. Facing the matter of violence is a major challenge for the organization of health services, especially for primary health care professionals, who have to deal with violence in its multiple facets. In order to face this issue, they develop strategies of strengthening and support for the victims, work on their self-control and impartiality, mainly because of the fear caused by being in proximity with families who face violence, and take on actions which extrapolate the field of Primary Health Care (PHC). This article is part of a dissertation named “Violence in Primary Health Care in Belo Horizonte: the thoughts and actions of health professionals”, which aimed to investigate the occurrences of violence in Belo Horizonte’s PHC through the perspective of health workers. On its turn, this specific article will discuss the possibilities of preventing such violence. It consists on qualitative and exploratory research in the form of a case study which has utilized semistructured interviews as its main instrument of data collection. The results show that these professionals perceive this problem as something which can be prevented by the combined efforts of different institutions and initiatives, such as the government and the police, with implementation of public policies against unemployment and drug abuse, along with educational actions and the effort towards improving the relationship between professionals and users of the health service.