Elements for discussion of the territory concept: operational perspective in the Family Health Strategy in the district of Engenho do Meio-Recife/PE

Abstract

The changes in the care model of Brazil’s Unified Health System were essential for improving the quality of care and, in this sense, the Family Health Strategy deserves to be highlighted. This provided the identification of the patient from a territorial basis and brought with it a better understanding of the local needs of the population. Given the facts exposed here, it is intended to analyze the operationalization of the concept of territory and the territorialisation of actions undertaken in health, specifically, in the Family Health Strategy established in the neighborhood of Engenho do Meio, Recife-PE. To this end, a qualitative and quantitative study was undertaken, through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires applied with the teams of professionals and users of Brazil's Unified Health System. From the data analysis, it was possible to observe that health organizes its actions in a territorial base, but uses only the administrative political criterion in the elaboration of the spatial cuts where health actions are developed. This fact, in turn, limits the organization of the work process, restricting the possibility of significant improvements in actions. This fact ends up making it difficult to adapt the network to the real needs of patients.