The objective of this study was to identify the perceptions of healthcare workers regarding the principle of comprehensiveness. To do this, a research was performed with five workers from a Family Health Unit located on the east side of São Paulo. This study was performed with a qualitative approach, using interviews and thematic analysis. Three categories emerged from the discourses: comprehensiveness as the profile and practice of healthcare professionals, focused on the humanization of care; comprehensiveness as the organization of the health service and working process; and comprehensiveness as the integration of the unit with other health services. In each dimension, it was revealed that the workers perceived the absence or presence of this principle as a guide for healthcare, problematizing the advancements and problems they experienced, as well as the challenges involved in changing the healthcare model.
Comprehensive Health Care; Family health; Health personnel; Public health nursing