SITUATIONAL DIAGNOSIS OF INTEGRATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY PRACTICESIN THE VI HEALTH REGION OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE
Complementary Therapies. Health Policy, Primary Health Care, Health Management.
The objective was to analyze the situational diagnosis of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PICS) performed in Primary Health Care (PHC) in the municipalities of the VI Health Region (RS) of Rio Grande do Norte. This is a descriptive and exploratory research with a qualitative approach carried out in the VI Health Region/Rio Grande do Norte (VI RS/RN), comprising 37 municipalities. The survey response rate was 97.30% (36 municipalities). Participants consisted of 31 health secretaries (Group 1); 31 PHC coordinators (Group 2); and 4 health professionals (Group 3) who perform the PICS, selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data collection took place from September 23, 2022 to March 3, 2023 in person, through a semi-structured interview with the study participants. Once the PICS experiences were identified, non-participant observation was carried out according to the guiding script with health professionals. Data were analyzed following the Content Analysis Technique (TAC) according to Laurence Bardin. Of the 36 municipalities that participated, 7 offer PICS as a routine service; 6 offered PICS at some point, but suspended the routine offer; 5 offer PICS sporadically and without standardization; 16 municipalities have never offered PICS and 2 are in the process of implementing the offer in 2023. The PICS mentioned in the routines of the municipalities were: auriculotherapy, cupping therapy and acupuncture, while in the sporadic offers it was added: shantala, medicinal plants, music therapy, aromatherapy and chromotherapy. In the proposals for future implementations, in addition to the previously mentioned PICS, 1 municipality showed interest in implementing circular dance, in addition, the plurality of municipalities links the use of PICS to the offer in specific groups and, not necessarily, the general population. Based on what was found in the analyzes, it is evident that most secretaries, coordinators and professionals in the municipalities where the research was carried out have little knowledge about the National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices, as well as the State Policy that guides this offer. Proportionally, the participants expect that there will be a financial incentive from one of the spheres of management and financing, state or federal, so that there is a constant and routine offer of PICS in PHC.