CHILDREN AND YOUTH WITH SPECIAL HEALTHCARE NEEDS: (DIS) CONTINUITY OF CARE

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective to investigate the follow-up and characteristics of children and youth with special healthcare needs within Primary Health Care services located in a city in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Method this qualitative study was supported by the Primary Health Care framework, and interviews were held with 37 health workers from the primary health care units located in the interior of São Paulo. Data were collected from May to December 2018 and treated with inductive thematic analysis. Results from the perspective of the health workers, the characteristics of these children and youth are centered on the dependence of specific care such as to promote psychomotor development, and dependence on technology and pharmacological treatments. They reported the difficulty to access health services while the primary health care services do not implement systematic follow-up. Conclusion these children and youth demand continuous and longitudinal care, which, however, is not provided by primary health care services, considering the discontinuity of care and a lack of networked follow-up. Therefore, health services need to be reorganized to keep up with changes in the child and youth morbidity and mortality to ensure continuous, integral, and networked follow-up to this population.