Men’s Perspective about the Care and Services of Primary Health Care

Introduction: Men health in recent years has been excelling in the discussions about the public health policies. This fact has occurred due to increasing rates of male mortality and morbidity associated with low demand for health services, especially primary health care. Objective: To understand the perception of the man about the care and services developed within the framework of primary health care. Method: Descriptive study of qualitative approach carried out with 17 men, residents in urban area of the municipality of Sao Mateus, Ceara, Brazil and assisted by family health teams. The data were collected in October 2015 through semi-structured interviews and treated according to the technique of thematic content analysis. Results: Three themes have been identified: evaluation of care received the Perception the male population: bad, awful, restricted or non-existent and a minority considered satisfactory; Difficulties perceived about the services and facilities provided to men – assignment difficulty, use of unified health system (SUS) card, functioning hours, care discontinuity (lack of medicines, examinations) long queues and waiting time. Were facilities: Organization, customer service and timely appointments; Suggestions for improving the quality of care the health of men were: specific schedule to meet the man, performing educational actions, encourage them to look for the service, with a focus on prevention, self-care and health promotion. In addition to the need to improve the infrastructure, organization, moreover, very good breakfast choice and qualify health professionals. Final thoughts: the perception of men on primary health care predominated the negative judgment on the services and care provided concerning the restructuring needs of the services, qualification of health professionals and program availabilities/actions specific to men's health and engagement in health promotion and prevention through health education. DESCRIPTORS: Man health; Access to health services; Completeness in health; Primary health care. Introduction: Men health in recent years has been excelling in the discussions about the public health policies. This fact has occurred due to increasing rates of male mortality and morbidity associated with low demand for health services, especially primary health care. Objective: To understand the perception of the man about the care and services developed within the framework of primary health care. Method: Descriptive study of qualitative approach carried out with 17 men, residents in urban area of the municipality of Sao Mateus, Ceara, Brazil and assisted by family health teams. The data were collected in October 2015 through semi-structured interviews and treated according to the technique of thematic content analysis. Results: Three themes have been identified: evaluation of care received the Perception the male population: bad, awful, restricted or non-existent and a minority considered satisfactory; Difficulties perceived about the services and facilities provided to men – assignment difficulty, use of unified health system (SUS) card, functioning hours, care discontinuity (lack of medicines, examinations) long queues and waiting time. Were facilities: Organization, customer service and timely appointments; Suggestions for improving the quality of care the health of men were: specific schedule to meet the man, performing educational actions, encourage them to look for the service, with a focus on prevention, self-care and health promotion. In addition to the need to improve the infrastructure, organization, moreover, very good breakfast choice and qualify health professionals. Final thoughts: the perception of men on primary health care predominated the negative judgment on the services and care provided concerning the restructuring needs of the services, qualification of health professionals and program availabilities/actions specific to men's health and engagement in health promotion and prevention through health education. DESCRIPTORS: Man health; Access to health services; Completeness in health; Primary health care.