This study sought to understand the meaning of the performance of a Family Health Strategy team in a socially vulnerable community. Grounded Data Theory was used as a methodological benchmark and the data collection technique consisted of interviews with twenty-five Family Health Strategy professionals between July and December of 2009. Data analysis revealed that the Family Health Strategy can be seen as a facilitator and stimulator of the process of expansion and consolidation of healthcare networks. They represent a new approach in community intervention, by viewing the human being as a multi-dimensional and singular being, inserted in his/her real context. A new assistential model is essentially being developed by the reorganization of healthcare practices, assisted by the multiplicity of complex relationships, interactions and associations that occur within the social and family context.
The nurse's role; Community health nursing; Unified Health System; Family Health Program