Collective Care in Primary Health Care: training of professionals

Abstract

The collective care in primary health care is one of the actions to be developed so that it can constitute integrality in the attention to the people in the territories, being vital to reflect on professional training in health. The objective was to analyze the initial and permanent training of professionals, from the Primary Health Care team, to carry out the practices of collective care. A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study was carried out, with interviews with dentists, physical educators, nurses, physicians and psychologists of the Basic Health Unit and the Family Health Strategy of a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The data were processed by content analysis, thematic modality. It was learned that the practice of collective care is carried out through groups, public health campaigns and user orientations, still based on the biomedical model, focused on individual actions. The formation of undergraduate and postgraduate courses was based on the concept of public health, however, psychologists and physical educators demonstrate initial changes in their practices, for constructing theoretical-practical reflections during postgraduate program activities and support from their professional’s class councils. Proposals for changes were identified, referred to by health professionals, based on the formation and organization of care, with the health care model for collective care as the axis of restructuring. It is necessary to invest in strategies with the managers for the constitution of processes of changes in the initial and continuous training of professionals.