Practices of the family health team: advisors of the access to the health services?1

Las prácticas del equipo de salud de la familia: directrices de acceso a servicios de salud?

The study aimed to analyze the practices of the team in the Family Health Strategy, and how these guide the access to the health services. This was undertaken through qualitative research with systematic observation of the practice in three Family Health Centers as the data collection technique. The analyzing flowchart guided the analysis of the data. The results revealed that the access occurs, preferentially, through the family registration and the program actions directed towards specific groups. The procedure-centered practice guides the care in the Family Health Strategy, prioritizing the Emergency Room, depicted in emergency care. Some activities undertaken by the nurse were shown to be more susceptible to new therapeutic positions, shown by the service users' satisfaction. The study points to the need to advance in the re-signification of the practices, so as to strengthen improvement of access in the system's "gateway".

Health services accessibility; Family Health Pogram; Patient care team; Unified Health System