The care process for users of alcohol and other drugs in primary health care: a qualitative study

Abstract

To understand the process of caring for alcohol and other drug users by Primary Health Care professionals. This is a qualitative exploratory study with professionals from two Family Health Teams. Data was collected through focus groups with guiding questions and recorded interviews, which were later transcribed and analyzed by Bardin. IRaMuTeQ® software was used for categorization, identification and coding, as well as Reinert's method for classifying elementary context units. Eight professionals took part in this study. 1,869 occurrences of words were identified in the corpus of this research, divided into 381 active forms. The analysis resulted in two categories: "The user of alcohol and other drugs: the challenges of everyday life" and "The Psychosocial Care Network and ways of optimizing care for users". Professionals face various difficulties in caring for alcohol and other drug users, such as lack of qualifications, lack of a support network, lack of motivation on the part of the person and fragmentation of the Psychosocial Care Network. However, overcoming the adversities experienced by users is also an essential strategy, as these people face stigma and prejudice in health services. The care process proved to be fragile in the face of the adversities that influence it, thus highlighting the importance of investments in services and ongoing training for professionals working in the RAPS, in order to enable assertive, continuous, resolutive and humanized care.