Assistência ambulatorial à população idosa : estudo de demanda e oferta

Abstract

The quick growing of elderly people in Brazil causes an important impact for the whole society, especially to the Public Health Politics. Therefore, the services from this area need to be prepared with required infrastructure to receive the demand of this age group, related to installation, specific programs and human resources not just in quantity but also in quality. The municipalities go through epidemiological and demographic transition, which contribute to changes of the current standards of Health Service and, in Primary Health Service, it is highlighted the increase and transformation of this kind of demand. The present work was carried out with the purpose of identifying the demand and the offer of public health service rendered to the elderly people from Cascavel-PR in 2007. By direct observation and interview with coordinators from four Basic Health Units (UBS), it was checked the structure of offer from the health services, focusing on material, human and organizational resources, to calculate in which way the offer allows the access of elderly in their individual or collective specificities in Primary Health Service. 141 elderly who live in the surroundings of UBSs were interviewed to identify the potential demand and the functional capacity of elderly. In the first stage, it was carried out the demographic characterization of Cascavel, highlighting the evolution on the growth rate, elderly people distribution and epidemiological profile during 1990 to 2005. The results showed a higher growth of elderly people compared to general population, with predominance of the female gender, and more concentration of elderly in the urban zone. Most elderly (85.2%) claimed to present more than one chronic disease, with prominence of Arterial Hypertension and its complications, as well as going to the UBSs for medical attendance. The health services showed deficiencies such as: inexistence of workers with graduation in geriatric and gerontology and delay in the schedule of medical appointments and exams. The relation between the offer of health service and the demand of elderly people unmasked, on one hand, the necessity of evaluation, local planning, reorganization of flow and the resolution of the produced service and on the other hand, the use and difficulties of elderly to accomplish the requested medical attendance. The conclusion was that, in reality the three spheres of government, the health planners and their interdisciplinary crew should be aware, to adapt the offer of health services to the demand presented by the elderly people. The struggle for the effective execution of the medical care of elderly´s health, in the perspective of an articulated, integrated and compromised public health system, is still an aim to be reached.