[Primary health care access and receptivity to users: an analysis of perceptions by users and health professionals]

This article is part of the evaluation study on the Project for Expansion and Consolidation of the Family Health Strategy, conducted by the Center for Public Health Research at the Federal University in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, from March to December 2005. The study presents an assessment of primary health care access and receptivity from the perspective of patients and health professionals, comparing traditional primary care units and family health units in three State capitals in Northeast Brazil. The methodology included focus groups with content analysis. The results identified increased access, but there is still a disproportion between potential supply, capacity to meet the demand, and difficulties with referral in both the family health units and traditional primary care units. As an operational technology, receptivity is still under construction in the family health units, with varying levels of adherence to both the concept and the strategies for reorganizing daily work practices. Meanwhile, receptivity is totally absent from the traditional primary care units. The study suggests that qualitative analyses be included in health assessment in order to better explain the subjective aspects of the various actors.