Interactions local movements and primary care workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The arrival of the covid-19 pandemic in Brazil brought with it the need to reflect on the prevention measures that have been recommended and disseminated to mitigate the virus, based on the difficulties of its implementation in a country marked by social inequalities. Given the great capillarity of Brazilian Primary Health Care, this study sought to analyze the interaction between primary care workers and residents/local movements of a vulnerable neighborhood of Recife/PE in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a case study with a qualitative approach, which included interviews with 6 health care workers and 4 local residents. It was possible to notice different initiatives and activities, both important, carried out simultaneously by such territorial actors, but a weak interaction between them is evidenced, possibly due to the singularities of this pandemic with new and more urgent demands, as well as the pattern of interaction prior to the pandemic. The results show the need to reflect on the barriers present in the interface ‘Primary Health Care-community’ and open space for the construction of new paths that do not waste the potential that exists in this relationship.