Physical therapist insertion in the Family Health Strategy team: the users’ view

Abstract

Introduction: The Family Health Strategy program (FHS) was created with the aim to strengthen primary care through multidisciplinary practices, focused of health care to the family and community. In this sense, the incorporation of other professionals, other than provided in the minimum composition, such as the physical therapist, may contribute to enhance the comprehensiveness of health care. Objective: To know how the user perceives the need of a physical therapist in the FHS. Methodology: This is a qualitative research of 60 users of a Family Health Center in a city in western Santa Catarina. Data collection was performed at users’ homes by means of an interview. It contained questions about users’ knowledge on physiotherapy and the need to include this professional in the FHS team. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Regarding the users’ knowledge about the physical therapist, we could observe that users perceive this professional as the one who works in rehabilitation. As for the need for the physical therapists insertion in the FHS staff, users highlighted that it is important to facilitate access to physical therapy services and to expand the comprehensiveness of health care to the user. Final considerations: It is clear that users recognize the role of physiotherapy in primary care, realizing the need for its inclusion in the FHS. This fact emphasizes that it is necessary to (re)consider the training process of this professional, approaching theory and practice of the FHS guidelines and the principles of the Unified Health System.