Daily demands in primary care: the view of health professionals and users

Abstract

In this qualitative case study based on the Comprehensive Sociology of Everyday Life, the aim was to describe the daily situations that require the use of health services from the perspectives of health care professionals and users. We interviewed 15 professionals and 17 users at three Family Health Team units in a city in the State of Minas Gerais State, using a script with open questions. The data were subject to content analysis. It was shown that the demands result from a combination of the population's social, individual and cultural factors. Care is delivered based on the users' spontaneous and, for the professionals, usually, the users are interested in a consultation, generally medical, including referral to specialists and free distribution of medicines. These findings indicate that health care needs to transcend the biological body and understand other dimensions that comprise the users' daily lives in search of problem solving.