Social networks, access and regulation of health services in a small city in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

The scope of this study was to establish the social relationships of primary health care workers for the regulation of health care from the social network perspective. It is a descriptive study using a quantitative approach in four basic care units, the control and evaluation sector, out-of-home treatment and basic care coordination. The data collection was performed via semi-structured interviews between December 2015 and January 2016 and the data were analyzed by Social Network Analysis with the support of the Ucinet and Netdraw softwares that allowed the analysis of the metrics and the creation of the sociogram. In the reticular dynamics, the actors with the greatest centrality of degree and intermediation were control and evaluation, coordinator of the basic care and coordinator of Out-of-Home Treatment. The nurse and the Community Health Agent emerged as central in relation to intermediation, which explains their relevance as articulators in the network. The way in which the network is articulated and the dynamics of social relations between the teams are reflected in the quality of the service and in the continuity of care. Replacing the community agents in the family health teams marks a setback because it will impact the social relations of these actors with the population.