The perspective of people living with human immunodeficiency virus on their care in primary health care

Abstract

Municipal initiatives and guidelines from the Ministry of Health have positioned Primary Health Care (PHC) as the preferred point of care for people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Since 2015, Florianópolis/SC (Brazil), has implemented the decentralization of this care to PHC. This qualitative study aimed to understand patients' perspectives on decentralized care, through interviews analyzed using thematic analysis. The results highlight improvements in access, relationship, comprehensiveness, longitudinality, and proximity to home. However, weaknesses were reported concerning breaches of confidentiality, staff turnover, difficulties in accessing other points of care, and resistance to follow-up within PHC. Despite the clear potential of PHC to provide quality care, ethical, organizational, and political challenges must be addressed to ensure comprehensive and equitable assistance for this population.