Social networks and team configurations in a Primary Health Care unit in the city of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Teamwork is one of the prerogatives of Primary Health Care to fulfill its role as an ordering and
care coordinator. The aim of the study was to identify, through the relationships between professionals, the
configuration of the different teams that work in a Primary Health Care unit in the city of Rio de Janeiro,
based on the Analysis of Social Networks for the production of active networks at the moment of the study.

This approach was used because it allows to identify the information flow and exchange mapping, the com-
munication patterns between professionals, and to graphically represent the existing connections between

different actors. The teams that work in the unit organize their daily work in different network formats, which
allowed them to understand the dynamics of communication, organization, teamwork, and the production
of care in its relational aspect. It is concluded that different team models can dictate the work process at this
point in the network, weakening or enhancing their actions, depending on the involvement of each actor,
their position in the network, and the resources they use to produce care.