Assessment of the influence of the context of street clinic teams that serve people living with tuberculosis in the State of Rio Grande do Norte.
Descriptors: Tuberculosis. Street Office Team. Homeless Person.
The homeless population is 56 times more susceptible to tuberculosis and is 50% less likely to
complete treatment successfully, in addition to presenting abandonment and mortality rates that
are 2.9 and 2.5 times higher, respectively. Given this scenario, the Ministry of Health
implemented Street Clinics to expand access to health services for this population. In this sense,
the objective was to evaluate the influence of the context of the teams in the care of people with
tuberculosis in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. An evaluative study of the normative type and
evaluative research was carried out, with a qualitative and quantitative approach, emphasizing
the degree of implementation, structure/process/result and influence of the context, of the street
clinic team. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal
University of Rio Grande do Norte, under opinion number 6.046.884. The study population
consisted of 22 professionals who work directly or indirectly in the street clinic team. With
regard to evaluative research, value judgment was used to analyze the relationships between the
intervention and the context. The qualitative data obtained were analyzed using the content
analysis technique proposed by Laurence Bardin (2011). As results and discussions, in terms of
degree of implementation, the Structure dimension was classified as partially implemented. The
Process dimension, in turn, was classified as fully implemented, but with some divergences
from reality, according to what was revealed by the statements of the professionals interviewed
when exposing their perceptions. As results and discussions, in terms of degree of
implementation, the Structure dimension was classified as partially implemented. The Process
dimension, in turn, was classified as fully implemented, but with some divergences from reality,
according to what was revealed by the statements of the professionals interviewed when
exposing their perceptions. In relation to the perceptions mentioned by eCnaR professionals,
three thematic categories were raised: (I) influence of the context on the development of actions
by professionals; (II) Potentials and difficulties in the team’s performance; (III) Characteristics
of PSR; (IV) Responsibilities of professionals and managers in combating TB. Considering the
divergences between practical implementation and professionals' perception, we can infer that,
even in a context of partial implementation, professional practice reflects an intuitive
understanding and aligned with the principles of Milton Santos' theory.