USER EMBRACEMENT AND HOUSE CALLS: EVALUATION OF ACCESS TOOLS AMONG PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

User Embracement and house calls: evaluation of access tools among primary health care professionals Introduction and objectives: This works purpose is to understand clinical characteristics and primary care professionals working process considering that such analyzes are essential for a health service organization and for planning collective actions. In this context, the issues identified as priorities for research in primary health care are health professional’s daily practice. User embracement and house calls are access practice tools that support family health teams (FHT) and are associated with Unified Health System principles of universality and comprehensiveness. In addition, they facilitate universal access, strengthen multiprofessional work and encourages actions to combat prejudice. Method: Questionnaires were applied to forty primary care professionals from Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil – who agreed with the consent form – concerning aspects of User Embracement and Home Visit practices. Questionnaires considered social vulnerability, clinical aspects, the reasons and the time allocated to user embracement and home visits and the health professionals job satisfaction on performing it. The work is in accordance with the ethics committee. Results and conclusions: From the understanding of the challenges and difficulties noted on user embracement and house calls by health professionals, we can propose new arrangements, which can be reached from work processes reorganization of through public policies or educational health activities. In addition, from this first understanding it is possible to plan new research formats focusing on understanding how these practice formats could enhance care provision.