Performance patterns of primary health care in the face of Covid-19 in Brazil

Characteristics and Contrasts

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5222989
AutoresSchenkman (0000-0003-1140-1056, Universidade de São Paulo, autor correspondente), Aylene Emilia Moraes Bousquat (0000-0003-2701-1570, Universidade de São Paulo), Luiz Augusto Facchini (0000-0002-5746-5170, Universidade Federal de Pelotas), Célia Regina Rodrigues Gil (0000-0003-4982-0520, Universidade Estadual de Londrina), Lígia Giovanella (0000-0002-6522-545X, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz)
Ano2023
Volume39
Fascículo8
Data de publicação2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCadernos de Saude Publica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0102-311X • E-ISSN: 1678-4464
EditoraFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/0102-311xen009123
OpenAlexW4386831836
SCIELO_PIDS0102-311X2023000805011
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas38

The adequate fight against pandemics requires effective coordination between primary health care (PHC) and health surveillance, guaranteed attention to acute and chronic demands, and a bond with the community dimension in the scope of basic health units (UBS, acronym in Portuguese). This study aims to contrast two extreme standards of PHC performance in the fight against COVID-19 in Brazil, comparing them with the profiles of the corresponding municipalities and characteristics of the organization of services. Based on the results of a cross-sectional national survey with a representative sample of UBSs, we created a synthetic index to evaluate how PHC performs against COVID-19 called CPI, composed of axes of health surveillance and social support (collective dimension) and of COVID-19 care and continuity of care (individual dimension). Of the 907 surveyed UBSs, 120 were selected, half of which had the highest indexes (complete standard) and the other half, the lowest ones (restricted standard). The municipalities of the UBSs with a complete standard are predominantly rural, have low Municipal Health Development Index (MHDI), high Family Health Strategy (FHS) coverage, and stand out in the collective dimension, whereas the UBSs in urban municipalities with this same standard have high MHDI, low FHS coverage, and an emphasis on the individual dimension. In the restricted standard, we highlight community health workers' reduced work in the territory. In the Brazilian Northeast, UBSs with complete standard predominate, whereas, in its Southeast, UBSs with restricted standard predominate. The study poses questions that refer to the role and organization of PHC in the health care network under situations that require prompt response to health issues and indicates the greater potential capacity of the FHS program in such situations

Acronym · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) · Demographic economics · Dimension (graph theory) · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Health care · Index (typography) · Pandemic · Computer Science · COVID-19 and healthcare impacts · Health, Nursing, Elderly Care · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Medicine