Family Health Strategy and child health in the Extreme South of Bahia, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Moraes, Márcia Maria dos Santos de
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Afonso, Jéssica Mayara Oliveira, Nascimento, Mércia Kimdolly de França, Pereira, Gessitania Rocha Pires, Pereira, Samuel Costa, Souza, Brenda Santana de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Baiana de Saúde Pública (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://rbsp.sesab.ba.gov.br/index.php/rbsp/article/view/3893
• topic: Atenção integral à saúde da criança; Estratégia Saúde da Família; Atenção primária à saúde; Comprehensive health care; National health strategies; Primary health care; Atención integral de salud; Estrategias de salud nacionales; Atención primaria de salud

The Family Health Strategy is the organizer of the care provided to children in assistance, of prevention of diseases, and of health promotion in most Brazilian medium and small municipalities. This study describes the care provided to the health of children in the Extreme South of Bahia, in the context of the Family Health Strategy, and discusses the absence of the pediatrician in this context. This is a descriptive study carried out in the 13 municipalities of the region. Primary care coordinators, physicians, and nurses answered different online questionnaires about the structure of the Family Health Strategy and the way they care for children. For the coordinators, the coverage for the early identification of pregnancy is low; 60% of the municipalities perform puerperal visits within one week; and in most cases the only neonatal screening performed is the biological one; the distribution of the child’s booklet is regular for 56.2%, and the main difficulty found in childcare is the high demand of the Family Health Strategy for other priority groups. The childcare consultations do not have an organized schedule, and may be periodical or by free demand, and about 35% to 60% of them result in referring children for a pediatricians’ opinion, but 90% of the doctors and 74% of the nurses reported not receiving counter-reference from the specialized service. The professionals highlighted difficulties to guide families about the child’s behavior, feeding, hygiene, and sleep. The results made it possible to identify failures in the assistance and comprehensive care to this public, contrary to what their policies advocate. About the quality of care, the role of the pediatrician in the composition of this strategy is discussed.