Humanization in the family health services: The users' satisfaction

Family Health Strategy has been conducted in Brazil for approximately one decade, assessed by the Health Ministry, which has appointed the need for local studies, mainly in the analysis of the relation between services and their users. The governmental proposal for care humanization has given special attention for the integrality of the assistance and the interactions between the professionals and the users. The purpose of this study was to assess users’ acceptability of the care offered and delivered by Family Health teams in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. This exploratory-descriptive study was based on a quantitative-qualitative approach method. The sample consisted of 171 users, registered at the four Family Health Units that cover the basic area of a secondary service. The study used semi structured interviews with analytical dimensions such as team-user relationships. Descriptive statistics was used for calculations of standard deviation, mean and median, assisted by Statistical Package for Social Science, and thematic analysis. The theme found in the thematic analysis was “Humanization of the Family Health assistance – details that make the difference in the production of health care”. The results show predomination by the female gender (88%), age older than 60 years old (31%), monthly income inferior to two minimum monthly salaries (34%), and a high satisfaction level in the general assessment. Users indicated considerate and affective interpersonal relations as one point of great satisfaction, demonstrating the high valuation of soft technologies in relations between workers and users and one of the aspects that differentiate health care. Studies within this theme give opportunities to users, strengthening their participation in the planning processes and exercising social control.