Pharmaceutical care in primary health care: So close, so far

Abstract

The expansion of Primary Health Care required changes in Pharmaceutical Care, in order to increase the coverage of the free distribution of medicines and reinforcing the need for the rational use of medicines. This work aimed to study Pharmaceutical Care in the production of care in Primary Health Care, contributing to the understanding of rational use of medicines. Method: We chose to analyze the material of an ethnographic investigation, carried out in 2014 in seven Basic Health Units. In addition, a seminar was held with institutional actors from the Units studied, in order to increase the laterality of the results. Results: It was possible to identify scenes and speeches, which connected and gave visibility to micropolitical elements related to the use of medicines, professional autonomy – the role of the physician in the prescription of medicines and the user who prescribes their care. Conclusion: What happens after the user leaves the UBS with his medicines taken at the pharmacy still seems to be hidden from the eyes of health professionals. The study produces indications of some f laws in the performance of Pharmaceutical Care and shows how far we are from a care management that includes the rational use of medicines in its multiple rationalities.