Assessment Of Treatment For Hypertension In Primary Care

Background: Because hypertension is a multifactorial clinical condition, primary care in this context consists in strategies for detecting and controlling the disease. Programs emphasizing this level of care incentive evaluative research as fundamental to generate mechanisms for quality assessment and control, as well as to provide information on the functioning and effectiveness of the health system. The present study aimed to evaluate the quality of health care provided for hypertensive users in primary health care. Methods and findings: This is an evaluative research conducted by triangulation of methods in which the quantitative and qualitative approaches were simultaneously used through observation, application of questionnaires, interviews and focus group data including managers, workers and users of a primary health care unit. The study showed that the health service has fulfilled its role of welcoming users through multidisciplinary teams as a gateway to the public system. However, the link between the health team and the community has been gradually undermined by the implementation of spontaneous demand with risk classification, compromising the continuity of treatment for hypertension. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary team and empowerment of individuals are fundamental for the qualification of care. However, the care provided for hypertensive users in primary care has in most cases been fragmented after the implementation of the system of free access with risk classification. This fact points to the need to adapt the care needs of hypertensive users to the new health care model.