Deaf community's access to the primary health care network

Abstract

According to the decree 5626/05, the health services must differentially assist the Deaf Community, a sociolinguistic and cultural minority that uses the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS). The objective of this study is to introduce the particularities of access of the Deaf population to the Primary Health Care services and the perception of the health unit managers about this matter. Regarding methods, the project was carried out in two steps. In the first step (exploratory), four interviews were conducted with key informers who belong to the deaf community and with representative members of the government (two users and two administrators of the State and Municipal Health Departments of São Paulo). In the second step, we administered a questionnaire to 21 managers of Primary Care Units (UBS) of one sub-district of the city of São Paulo. The results demonstrate difficulties in the access to the UBS and were categorized according to profile and causes. The UBS managers seem to realize that the network has been changing paradigms to provide such services, moving from the service paradigm to the support paradigm; in addition, they show great interest in initiatives related to the area, requiring only financial resources to develop them. Thus, there is a disagreement between the legal decisions, the expectations of the deaf community and what can be currently offered by the Health System. Such facts invite us to reflect upon the topic, the principles of SUS (Brazil's National Health System) and the Brazilian social development.