Social iniquities in Primary Healthcare and intersectoral action: a descriptive study

Indexación: Scopus.OBJECTIVE: To analyze Primary Healthcare with regards to dealing with social inequities through actions targeted at Social Determinants of Health, from the perspective of Family Health Strategy Professionals. METHODS: Descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Data were collected through focus groups and analyzed using Habermas's communicative action theory. RESULTS: There were few intersectoral and assistance organization actions with clinical emphasis; municipal management for intersectoral actions shows a lack of planning and faces challenges; and there is little communication and articulation between the sectors. Final considerations: There are many challenges to be overcome by Primary Health Care to contemplate intersectoral actions targeted at Social Health Determinants, a demand inherent to the possibilities of advancing in the reduction of social and health-related inequalities.https://www.scielo.br/j/reben/a/knzXfPLFx69ktjyJHXgZ6mQ/?lang=e

Health services performance for TB treatment in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Researches to evaluate Primary Health Care performance in TB control in Brazil show that different cities aggregate local specificities in the dynamics of coping with the disease. This study aims to evaluate health services' performance in TB treatment in cities across different Brazilian regions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This cross-sectional study was conducted in five cities that are considered priorities for TB control in Brazil: Itaboraí (ITA), Ribeirão Preto (RP) and São José do Rio Preto (SJRP) in the Southeast; Campina Grande (CG) and Feira de Santana (FS) in the Northeast. Data were collected through interviews with 514 TB patients under treatment in 2007, using the <it>Primary Care Assessment Tool </it>adapted for TB care in Brazil. Indicators were constructed based on the mean response scores (Likert scale) and compared among the study sites.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>"Access to treatment" was evaluated as satisfactory in the Southeast and regular in the Northeast, which displayed poor results on 'home visits' and 'distance between treatment site and patient's house'. "Bond" was assessed as satisfactory in all cities, with a slightly better performance in RP and SJRP. "Range of services" was rated as regular, with better performance of southeastern cities. 'Health education', 'DOT' and 'food vouchers' were less offered in the Northeast. "Coordination" was evaluated as satisfactory in all cities. "Family focus" was evaluated as satisfactory in RP and SJRP, and regular in the others. 'Professional asking patient's family about other health problems' was evaluated as unsatisfactory, except in RP.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Two types of obstacles are faced for health service performance in TB treatment in the cities under analysis, mainly in the Northeast. The first is structural and derives from difficulties to access health services and actions. The second is organizational and derives from the way health technologies and services are distributed and integrated. Incentives to improve care organization and management practices, aimed at the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary services, can contribute towards a better performance of health services in TB treatment.</p

Spatial analysis of avoidable hospitalizations due to tuberculosis in Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil (2006-2012)

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe the spatial distribution of avoidable hospitalizations due to tuberculosis in the municipality of Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil, and to identify spatial and space-time clusters for the risk of occurrence of these events. METHODS This is a descriptive, ecological study that considered the hospitalizations records of the Hospital Information System of residents of Ribeirao Preto, SP, Southeastern Brazil, from 2006 to 2012. Only the cases with recorded addresses were considered for the spatial analyses, and they were also geocoded. We resorted to Kernel density estimation to identify the densest areas, local empirical Bayes rate as the method for smoothing the incidence rates of hospital admissions, and scan statistic for identifying clusters of risk. Softwares ArcGis 10.2, TerraView 4.2.2, and SaTScanTM were used in the analysis. RESULTS We identified 169 hospitalizations due to tuberculosis. Most were of men (n = 134; 79.2%), averagely aged 48 years (SD = 16.2). The predominant clinical form was the pulmonary one, which was confirmed through a microscopic examination of expectorated sputum (n = 66; 39.0%). We geocoded 159 cases (94.0%). We observed a non-random spatial distribution of avoidable hospitalizations due to tuberculosis concentrated in the northern and western regions of the municipality. Through the scan statistic, three spatial clusters for risk of hospitalizations due to tuberculosis were identified, one of them in the northern region of the municipality (relative risk [RR] = 3.4; 95%CI 2.7–4,4); the second in the central region, where there is a prison unit (RR = 28.6; 95%CI 22.4–36.6); and the last one in the southern region, and area of protection for hospitalizations (RR = 0.2; 95%CI 0.2–0.3). We did not identify any space-time clusters. CONCLUSIONS The investigation showed priority areas for the control and surveillance of tuberculosis, as well as the profile of the affected population, which shows important aspects to be considered in terms of management and organization of health care services targeting effectiveness in primary health care

Best practices of Public Health research equity: examples from Brazil and Portugal

In the context of the Research Fairness Initiative, both the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the Universidade de São Paulo have sought, over the last few years, to solidify equity in public health research. However, these initiatives need to be contextualized to better promote their real adoption, especially in areas such as Public Health. Public Health presents two main characteristics that make it an area of science that is particularly sensitive to issues of equity: the relevance of public health interventions and the fact that it is evolving towards global health, sensitive to the pressures of globalization, global warming and of multiculturalism. Health research is an important and complex activity. More so when it involves patients and several countries, creating challenges that we must understand and mitigate. The COHRED reference framework was applied to better map fair research practices in Portugal and Brazil. Equity in public health research is an ethical duty, which most researchers embrace with dedication. Lack of resources often hinders such equity, but the adoption of more rigorous collaborative models has helped to mitigate.publishersversionpublishe