Accessibility of children with special health needs to the health care network

To know how children with special health needs access the health care network.

This is a qualitative research of descriptive-exploratory type, developed using semi-structured interviews mediated by the Talking Map design. Participants were 19 family caregivers of these children in two Brazilian municipalities. Data were submitted to inductive thematic analysis.

Difficulties were mentioned from the diagnosis moment to the specialized follow-up, something represented by the itinerary of the c hild and his/her family in the search for the definition of the medical diagnosis and the access to a specialized professional; a gap between the children's needs and the care offered was observed in primary health care.

The access of children with special health needs is filled with obstacles such as slowness in the process of defining the child's diagnosis and referral to a specialist. Primary health care services were replaced by care in emergency care units.