The article deals with the barriers of access to specialized services in ophthalmology found in the therapeutic itinerary of patients from the Benjamin Constant Institute (IBC), in Rio de Janeiro. The analysis was founded on theoretical and methodological frameworks of the social sciences and health, enabling to recognize the social dynamics that crisscross those itineraries. As methodological strategies we used analysis of official documents, surveys of healthcare in the state of Rio de Janeiro, interviews with patients and staff of IBC; participant observation. The study identified the following features: (1) illness and risk; (2) the paths that were followed; (3) the use of private services and family support; (4) discontinuities in and lack of comprehensiveness in public care (SUS); (5) the outstanding place of the points of view. The results show the itineraries and the barriers faced as a social and cultural construction bounded by material and symbolic conditions of the group under research.
Therapeutic itinerary; Health services accessibility; Eye health; Ophthalmology; Delivery of health care