Comprehensive care: social representations of Family Health teams in Distrito Federal, Brazil

Abstract

This qualitative research analyzed the social representations about comprehensive care of the health professionals who work at the teams of the Family Health Strategy (ESF) in Distrito Federal - DF, Brazil. The ESF is being implemented in Brazil since 1994 as a political strategy in order to reorganize the "model of health care", and currently is in expansion in the DF. The study was developed in 11 of 15 health regions in DF; information was gathered through individual semi-structured interviews and focal group with local managers and teams' professionals. Interviews were analyzed using the Discourse of the Collective Subject (DSC) method based on the theory of Social Representations, aiming to understand the sociogenesis of thinking, taking into account the psychosocial reality. It was found that care is understood both as an act of solidarity and a professional attribute to support families in their multiple needs; it is seen as an articulation of interdisciplinary activities of prevention, health promotion and treatment, aiming to improve quality of life. Comprehensive care permeates the idea of professional autonomy, whaicht requires bonds of trust and accountability between professionals and patients, contextualizing the families about health determinants and forms of facing problems and, finally, integration among care providers. entering service health s are seen as by the professionalswhich consider health there is a for health. The study showed that the care is related to different dimensions of comprehensiveness, reflecting the potential and challenges of the ESF model for the development of expanded health care practices. The potential of relationships established among different subjects in the territory must allow that professional actions become more qualified, particularly those related to health promotion. potential of the relations established allows the health