Evaluation of the Family Health Program: a review

This is a bibliographic review on the evaluation studies of the Family Health Program (FHP). Lilacs and SciELO databases were consulted up to April, 2007. Full texts of 88 published articles were analyzed. It was observed that most articles were published between the years 2005 and 2006 in periodicals intended for the Health Service, being the main subjects to the research professionals of FHP teams and FHP users. The studies were mainly carried out in the states of São Paulo, Bahia and Ceará. The most frequent objectives were the evaluation of the working process and the impact. The studies classification, regarding to the results of the FHP evaluation, as satisfactory or not satisfactory is discussed, and varied according to the methodological design applied and the respective structure components, process and result. The FHP evaluation is essential for the validation and conduction of the strategy.