ABSTRACT
Background
The Brazilian Primary Health Care (PHC) system had advances in its coverage through the Family Health Strategy (FHS) program, a unique experience that has inspired many countries.
Objective
To evaluate the presence and extent of essential and derived attributes of PHC from the perspective of professionals, adult users, and caregivers of child users in the services provided by the FHS program.
Method
Cross-sectional evaluative survey conducted from June to September 2015 in 21 municipalities in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with 102 professionals, 629 caregivers of children aged <2 years, and 690 adult users through application of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT).
Results
The PHC attributes are present in the municipalities; however, First Contact Access - accessibility from the perspective of adult users and professionals - is not, since it obtained PCAT scores <6.6 and, from the perspective of caregivers of child users, needs to be extended.
Changes in the organizational aspects of the FHS program and intensification of continuing education for professionals are required, seeking to ensure, in addition to comprehensive population coverage, qualified assistance and presence of all the PHC attributes in the services provided to its users.
Keywords:
primary health care; family health strategy; health services; health evaluation