Referência e contra referência em saúde bucal: regulação do acesso aos centros de especialidades odontológicas

Objective Based on the system of reference and counter-reference and comprehensiveness in oral health care, we aimed to examine ways of refering users to Specialized Dental Care Centers (SDCC) and the interface between them and Primary Care. Methods This is a cross-sectional study carried out with users and dentists of SDCC in a metropolitan region of Northeast of Brazil. Analyses were descriptive, and the association test was done with chi-square. Results Six forms of entry to specialized service were identified: free demand (13.8 %) and reference by the Primary Care dentist (63.2 %) were most frequent. Users referred by the basic health unit dentist had more interest in making a counter-reference than the others (p<0.001, PR=4.65, 95 % CI: 2.74 to 7.91), while individuals without this referral had 1.49 times more difficulty obtaining care (95 % CI: 1.02 to 2.17). Referral procedures are a decisive factor for counter-references. However, the high demand for primary care services and the short supply these services can offer in the face of needs make SDCC performance difficult. Conclusion The analysis of oral health practices from the perspective of network modeling points to the service's need to establish protocols for regulation in a bid to improve access to and the quality of care provided.

Construção e validação do instrumento de investigação do conhecimento de gestantes sobre sua saúde bucal e a do seu bebê: perspectiva do cuidado em saúde

INTRODUCTION: Humanized and quality prenatal and post-partum care is critical to maternal and newborn health, as well as oral health care. Currently, the National Oral Health Policy is aiming at expanding dental care for pregnant women. Thus, the promotion of oral health and attention to prenatal care policies should be integrated; however, there is still limited participation of pregnant women. Thus, it is necessary to verify the knowledge of pregnant women related to oral health, seeking to estimate the quality of dental care provided during prenatal care, being essential for the Family Health strategy to organize personnel, plan costs and to ensure the quality standard of care. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a research instrument on the knowledge of pregnant women about their oral health and of their baby. METHOD: This is a construction and validation study with 93 pregnant women in Family Health Units and specialized private clinics in Obstetrics, in the city of Natal / RN. It was authorized by the Onofre Lopes University Hospital Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) under the registration number 421.163/13. The construction of the instrument followed steps so that it was valid, reliable and sensitive: creation and reduction of the items (drafting of the instrument), content validity and testing of the instrument, and hypotheses validation. Once constructed, the instrument was evaluated by experts who suggested modifications. There was consultation with the target population about the new version of the created instrument, which had the instrument validation verified by internal consistency through intra and inter-calibration and test-retest. Next, the hypotheses were validated. A database was built in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22.0. After creating the hypotheses, an association was found for validating the criteria between each of the specific issues for each established criteria, considering a 5% significance level. Data analysis was carried out by describing the absolute and relative frequencies of the variables pertaining to issues relating to their pregnancy knowledge about their oral health and their baby. The Kappa coefficient was used for the calibration process (Inter and Intra-examiner calibration) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to analyze instrument reproducibility (test-retest). In addition, the chi-square test was used to cross the dependent variable with the (dichotomized) independent variables. RESULTS: The intra and inter agreement analysis presented a Kappa coefficient between 0.400 and 1.000. Internal consistency through the analysis showed that 90% of the instrument's questions showed great reliability in the answers (Cronbach α ˃ 0.7). In the investigation of the relationship between the dependent variable (knowledge about oral health) and the independent variables (trimester of pregnancy, education, income and multiparous), it was found that none of these independent variables were significantly associated. All hypotheses had their Ho confirmed. CONCLUSION: The constructed instrument was validated, considering that it showed to be sensitive with good reliability and good accuracy, and therefore can be used to assess pregnant women’s knowledge about their oral health and the oral health of their baby.

Construção e validação do instrumento de investigação do conhecimento de gestantes sobre sua saúde bucal e a do seu bebê: perspectiva do cuidado em saúde

INTRODUCTION: Humanized and quality prenatal and post-partum care is critical to maternal and newborn health, as well as oral health care. Currently, the National Oral Health Policy is aiming at expanding dental care for pregnant women. Thus, the promotion of oral health and attention to prenatal care policies should be integrated; however, there is still limited participation of pregnant women. Thus, it is necessary to verify the knowledge of pregnant women related to oral health, seeking to estimate the quality of dental care provided during prenatal care, being essential for the Family Health strategy to organize personnel, plan costs and to ensure the quality standard of care. OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a research instrument on the knowledge of pregnant women about their oral health and of their baby. METHOD: This is a construction and validation study with 93 pregnant women in Family Health Units and specialized private clinics in Obstetrics, in the city of Natal / RN. It was authorized by the Onofre Lopes University Hospital Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) under the registration number 421.163/13. The construction of the instrument followed steps so that it was valid, reliable and sensitive: creation and reduction of the items (drafting of the instrument), content validity and testing of the instrument, and hypotheses validation. Once constructed, the instrument was evaluated by experts who suggested modifications. There was consultation with the target population about the new version of the created instrument, which had the instrument validation verified by internal consistency through intra and inter-calibration and test-retest. Next, the hypotheses were validated. A database was built in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22.0. After creating the hypotheses, an association was found for validating the criteria between each of the specific issues for each established criteria, considering a 5% significance level. Data analysis was carried out by describing the absolute and relative frequencies of the variables pertaining to issues relating to their pregnancy knowledge about their oral health and their baby. The Kappa coefficient was used for the calibration process (Inter and Intra-examiner calibration) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to analyze instrument reproducibility (test-retest). In addition, the chi-square test was used to cross the dependent variable with the (dichotomized) independent variables. RESULTS: The intra and inter agreement analysis presented a Kappa coefficient between 0.400 and 1.000. Internal consistency through the analysis showed that 90% of the instrument's questions showed great reliability in the answers (Cronbach α ˃ 0.7). In the investigation of the relationship between the dependent variable (knowledge about oral health) and the independent variables (trimester of pregnancy, education, income and multiparous), it was found that none of these independent variables were significantly associated. All hypotheses had their Ho confirmed. CONCLUSION: The constructed instrument was validated, considering that it showed to be sensitive with good reliability and good accuracy, and therefore can be used to assess pregnant women’s knowledge about their oral health and the oral health of their baby.

Cuidado psicossocial em saúde mental: estudo em assentamentos rurais do Rio Grande do Norte

Dwellers of agrarian reform settlements have a life conditioned by poor living and work conditions, difficulties accessing health programs, social assistance and other public policies and by this exacerbating their psychosocial and environmental vulnerability, which has an impact on their mental health. This research investigates the availability of support by the health and social assistance staff, regarding the demands of common mental disorders and alcohol abuse of dwellers of nine settlements in Rio Grande do Norte. Fifty three experts from different professional categories were interviewed individually or in groups. The results indicate that the workers suffer from poor working conditions, attributes of patrimonial heritage and welfare, which still survives in Brazilian social policies and particularly at local administrations of the countryside. The staffs have little knowledge of the local conditions and of the mental health needs, which has a negative impact on the reception and offered care. The implemented health care still corresponds to the biomedical logic, characterized by ethnocentrism, technicality, biology, cure, individualism and specialization, with little participation of the dwellers and disregarding the traditional knowledge and practices of local health care and by this not achieving the expected results. The psychosocial attendance is not well coordinated, presenting problems with the follow-up and continuity of care. The psychosocial mental health care in rural context has to face the challenge of the reorganization of the health care networks, the establishment of primary health care close to the people’s everyday life, building intersectional practices considering a health multidetermination and health education connected to these specific contexts. Due to the lack of knowledge of the specifics of the life conditions of the dwellers and the fragmentation of the psychosocial health care network, these staffs do not abide and are not ready to face the mental health needs in order to interfere with these health iniquities.

Cuidado psicossocial em saúde mental: estudo em assentamentos rurais do Rio Grande do Norte

Dwellers of agrarian reform settlements have a life conditioned by poor living and work conditions, difficulties accessing health programs, social assistance and other public policies and by this exacerbating their psychosocial and environmental vulnerability, which has an impact on their mental health. This research investigates the availability of support by the health and social assistance staff, regarding the demands of common mental disorders and alcohol abuse of dwellers of nine settlements in Rio Grande do Norte. Fifty three experts from different professional categories were interviewed individually or in groups. The results indicate that the workers suffer from poor working conditions, attributes of patrimonial heritage and welfare, which still survives in Brazilian social policies and particularly at local administrations of the countryside. The staffs have little knowledge of the local conditions and of the mental health needs, which has a negative impact on the reception and offered care. The implemented health care still corresponds to the biomedical logic, characterized by ethnocentrism, technicality, biology, cure, individualism and specialization, with little participation of the dwellers and disregarding the traditional knowledge and practices of local health care and by this not achieving the expected results. The psychosocial attendance is not well coordinated, presenting problems with the follow-up and continuity of care. The psychosocial mental health care in rural context has to face the challenge of the reorganization of the health care networks, the establishment of primary health care close to the people’s everyday life, building intersectional practices considering a health multidetermination and health education connected to these specific contexts. Due to the lack of knowledge of the specifics of the life conditions of the dwellers and the fragmentation of the psychosocial health care network, these staffs do not abide and are not ready to face the mental health needs in order to interfere with these health iniquities.

O controle da tuberculose no contexto da atenção primária à saúde no Brasil

O Brasil é um dos países que concentram 80% da carga de tuberculose no mundo. No contexto da atenção primária brasileira, fatores interferem para que as equipes de saúde da família possam incorporar as atividades de controle da doença no processo de trabalho. O controle da doença depende da forma como os serviços de saúde estão organizados para garantir o acesso ao diagnóstico precoce e ao tratamento. Esse estudo tem como objetivo geral analisar o controle da tuberculose no contexto da atenção primária à saúde no Brasil. Os objetivos específicos são comparar o tratamento diretamente observado com o regime autoadministrado em pessoas com tuberculose; Verificar se o Programa Nacional de Controle da Tuberculose é avaliável e elaborar um modelo teórico e lógico para avaliação deste programa; avaliar a relação entre porte populacional dos municípios e as características de estrutura e processo de cuidado a pacientes de tuberculose na atenção primária no Brasil. Realizou-se uma revisão sistemática, seguida de um estudo de avaliabilidade e de um estudo transversal. Os achados da revisão sistemática revelam que não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos de tratamento (observado e não observado) para cura (OR 1,06. IC95% 0,75 - 1,50) e para conclusão do tratamento (OR 1,64, IC 95% 0,79 - 3,42). Menor abandono no grupo com tratamento supervisionado e não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os grupos (OR 0,73, CI 95% 0,58-0,92). O risco de morte foi maior no regime de tratamento autoadministrado (OR 1,49 IC 95% 1,03 - 2,45). A hetorogeinadade entre os estudos analisados não permite afirmar que nao há diferença estatisticamente significativa para cura e tratamento concluído. A pré-avaliação do Programa de Controle de Tuberculose possibilitou a descrição do Programa, elaboração e pactuação do modelo lógico e a matriz de relevância dos indicadores. Caracterizou-se os seus elementos estruturantes, definição de indicadores de estrutura e processo, além das perguntas avaliativas. Uma avaliação somativa com enfoque na análise dos efeitos da intervenção de controle da tuberculose é recomendada. A avaliação das características de estrutura e processo de cuidado à pessoa com tuberculose revelou melhor desempenho para as equipes de atenção básica de municípios classificados como metrópole no acesso, coordenação do cuidado e qualidade técnica da atenção. Em relação ao acesso: 98,5% acolhimento a demanda espontânea; 95,8% programação de consultas. Na coordenação do cuidado, 93,2% existência de protocolo para tuberculose. Quanto a qualidade técnica da atenção à tuberculose verifica-se que 93,4% acompanhamento de tratamento diretamente observado, 95,8% com busca ativa de faltosos ao tratamento, 64,0% oferta de ações educativas, 91,3% busca ativa de sintomáticos respiratórios. Cabe destacar que metrópoles apresentaram maior tempo médio de espera para escuta/acolhimento (24,41 minutos); para consulta previamente agendada (23,52 dias); para consulta em pneumologia (87,12 dias). Percebem-se fragilidades na estrutura e processo da atenção à tuberculose, principalmente no controle especializado da doença e na qualidade técnica entre os municípios. Recomenda-se reforço, particularmente na qualidade técnica para aumentar a cobertura de acompanhamento do tratamento, busca de sintomáticos respiratórios e das ações educativas.

Integração ensino e serviço: dizer e fazer saúde na atenção básica

The current discussion on Education and Health has shown the need for greater integration between health services and academia, and this issue has been addressed by researchers in the area as being of great importance. How do we say what we need to do? The National Policy on Education Permanent Health proposes the dissemination of pedagogical skills at SUS, so that the public health clearance to constitute an area of teaching and learning in work performance. This study aimed to know how is the process of integration between education and health services in primary health care, from the knowledge on the role of mentors in the training of undergraduate students in the healthcare field in UFRN. Qualitative Methodology possible, from the use of the techniques of Semi-Structured Interview and Direct Observation of achieving this goal. The analysis of data taken from the Hermeneutic-Dialectic Approach, taking as mediators knowledge of the areas of Education, Health Education and Public Health, showed that the performance of preceptors constitutes an important strategy to enable the integration of teaching and service, and the professionals involved in the preceptorship educate themselves while they educate. The educational process is permeated by knowledge and experiences heterogeneous, highly favorable to the training of students and professionals factor. Innovative educational practices proven capable of starting the mediation of preceptors and other professionals involved in the Work Programme Education for Health, extend learning. The curriculum components Integrated Activity of Health, Education and Citizenship, and Tutorial Program for Integrated Health Work chosen as the basis for this experiment set, for preceptors, the need to seek new knowledge, allowing each actor transcend its specific area of academic training and interact with other areas, which makes learning interesting, enjoyable and meaningful.

Articulação entre saúde mental infanto-juvenil e atenção básica em Natal-RN: limites e possibilidades

In the case of Brazilian Psychiatric Reformation, mental health juvenile reveals itself as a great challenge, with major gaps in terms of needs, services and actions on mental illness in children and adolescents. This research is a qualitative study of descriptive and exploratory, having to analyze the actions and practices of mental health juvenile articulated between the Psychosocial Care Center juvenile (Caps i) and the basic care in Natal-RN, and specific, identify the limits and possibilities for an important precedent of the care network. After submission to the Research Ethics Committee (CEP) of the University Hospital Onofre Lopes (HUOL) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) obtained approval contained in opinion number 777.067 / 2014. For the data collection, it was initially carried out a documentary research in the Municipal Health Department of Christmas about the phenomenon under study, and subsequently, applied semi-structured interviews with the subjects of the research, which were workers Caps i of Natal-RN. The analysis was woven as the thematic analysis technique, understood within the method of content analysis. The results and discussions were organized by categories and subcategories, namely: CATEGORY 1: Limits and weaknesses in the linkage between the Caps i and basic care, with the subcategories: 1.1 Lack of specialized services and devices articulators in network, 1.2 The diversity of situations in the demand juvenile assisted; CATEGORY 2: possibilities for an effective network, with the subcategory: 2.1 Intersectoral collaboration as a strategy for solving attention. The analysis revealed that the integration and coordination of mental health services juvenile and primary care in the city of Natal-RN, has incipient initiatives and/or inadequate for the resolvability intersectoral, where the devices of attention to health involved cannot establish bonds effective and long-lasting in the perspective of co-responsibility and sharing of care. On the other hand, it appears that the existing shares and practiced, configure an exercise in approximation to the dialog between mental health juvenile and basic care. It is highlighted that the shared care and the establishment of intersectoral collaboration within and outside of the health sector is possibility of facilitating the necessary dialog between the services and professionals involved, thus, enabling a better prospect of resolvability of the Network of Psychosocial Care for the youth in reality being investigated.

Estudo qualitativo sobre residuos solidos e perfuro-cortantes no municipio Itaguatins - TO

CARVALHO FILHO, Antonio M. et al. Estudo qualitativo sobre resíduos sólidos e perfuro-cortantes no município de Itaguatins, TO. Educação Ambiental em Ação, v. 28, 2009

O que tenho a ver com isso? aula-vivência sobre violência contra crianças e adolescentes

A violência constitui hoje a principal causa de morte em crianças de 5 a 19 anos, o que tem imposto aos profissionais de saúde um olhar mais atento a estas questões, bem como uma formação que busque compreender este fenômeno sobre os vários prismas que a circunscreve. O objetivo deste artigo é relatar a experiência vivenciada com alunos do curso de Graduação em Enfermagem da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte numa aula-vivência sobre esta temática. A aula foi baseada numa prática pedagógica de ação reflexiva. Desenvolveu-se a partir da integração dos conteúdos teóricos e práticos, articulando-os com temas sociais, políticos e econômicos. A aula foi dividida em três momentos: um momento de sensibilização; um segundo momento onde foi apresentado e discutido o arcabouço teórico, científico e legal que envolve o tema; e um terceiro, que visou estimular uma reflexão sobre a realidade vivenciada nos serviços de saúde por profissionais que atuam diante de situações de violência. Nos três momentos da aula pudemos proporcionar ao aluno a inquietação e a reflexão necessárias para pensarmos sobre a violência em toda a sua complexidade, pluricausalidade e com toda a carga de preconceito em que esta se encontra envolvida

Determinantes socioeconômicos e ambientais do declínio das hospitalizações por diarréias em lactentes no Rio Grande do Norte - 1992 a 2001

There was a significant decline in hospitalizations for acute diarrhea in children younger than 1 year of age in Brazil between 1992 to 2001. The less economically developed state of Rio Grande do Norte is a case example of the national trend. In this work, we show a significant association between improvements in socioeconomic variables as well as increased access to sanitation and the decreased rate of hospitalization. Additionally, we observed a positive, seasonal correlation between rainfall and hospitalizations. Most notably, however, we show that improvements in income and inflation were positively correlated with a decline in hospitalizations. Improvements in public health infrastructure, socioeconomic variables like education and literacy, and increased investment in health services were important in reducing severe early childhood diarrheas. However, the data suggests that increased buying power and reductions in poverty played an equally crucial role in reducing hospitalizations for acute diarrhea in infants in Brazil. The work includes elements of the demography of the period for the age groups involved, children under one year, women in fertile age and fertility rate

Dimensões da satisfação do paciente geriátrico com a assistência fisioterapêutica

Introdução: Os idosos constituem os maiores consumidores dos serviços de saúde, especialmente os de reabilitação, tornando imprescindível a avaliação da qualidade da assistência fisioterapêutica prestada. A satisfação do paciente tem sido considerada uma das melhores e mais eficazes formas de avaliar o cuidado e direcionar o provedor do serviço para suprir as necessidades e expectativas do paciente-cliente. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar os principais aspectos (preditores) que contribuem para a satisfação do paciente geriátrico com o tratamento fisioterapêutico ambulatorial. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo com enfoque epidemiológico, transversal e descritivo de cunho exploratório. Foi utilizado o instrumento de avaliação da satisfação do paciente com a fisioterapia, desenvolvido e validado para a população brasileira por Mendonça em 2007, com uma escala de satisfação do paciente composta por 23 itens. Os dados foram coletados na sala de espera de 29 clínicas de Fisioterapia da rede privada da capital do RN/Brasil e a amostra selecionada de forma não-probabilística constou de 221 pacientes com idade superior a 60 anos, que realizaram entre 5 e 60 sessões de fisioterapia onde os dados foram coletados, deveriam ser usuários de plano de saúde e ter condições cognitivas preservadas. Resultados: A análise fatorial indicou a existência de quatro fatores com autovalor maior que 1: interação pacienteterapeuta (7 itens) α = 0,901; acesso e atendimento de recepcionista e pessoal de apoio (8 itens) α = 0,888; ambiente físico e satisfação global (5 itens) α = 0,835; e conveniência (3 itens) α = 0,711. Os itens com maiores escores de satisfação completa foram os contemplados nos aspectos de interação paciente-terapeuta, especialmente o respeito e a gentileza do fisioterapeuta. As associações realizadas através do teste do Qui-quadrado e regressão logística binária entre a satisfação do paciente e as variáveis sócio-demográficas, percepção do estado de saúde e capacidade funcional demonstraram que a satisfação do paciente idoso associa significativamente com o sexo e estado civil. Os achados revelam que as mulheres mostram-se mais satisfeitas com a fisioterapia. Conclusão: Os aspectos interpessoais demonstraram ser preditores relevantes para assistência fisioterapêutica satisfatória, especialmente na população idosa que requer atenção além do suporte puramente técnico

Caracterização fenotípica e genotípica de Staphylococcus aureus resistentes à meticilina isolados na cidade do Natal/RN

Staphylococcus aureus resistente à meticilina (MRSA) é um dos principais agentes de infecções associadas a serviços de saúde em todo o mundo. No Brasil, há a predominância de um clone de MRSA multirresistente denominando clone epidêmico brasileiro (CEB). Entretanto, novos clones nãomultirresistentes com alta virulência têm sido descritos em infecções comunitárias e hospitalares. O objetivo desse estudo foi realizar a caracterização fenotípica e genotípica de cepas de MRSA isoladas na cidade do Natal/RN. Inicialmente avaliamos 60 amostras de S. aureus quanto a resistência à meticilina através de diferentes técnicas fenotípicas, utilizando a detecção do gene mecA por PCR como padrão. O antibiograma de todas as cepas foi realizado utilizando 12 antimicrobianos conforme descrito pelo CLSI. As cepas de MRSA foram caracterizadas geneticamente através da tipagem do cassete cromossômico estafilocócico mec (SCCmec) e da eletroforese em campo elétrico alternado (PFGE). Dos 60 S. aureus estudados, 45 foram resistentes à meticilina. Observamos que para algumas cepas de MRSA os testes de triagem em ágar com 6μg/mL de oxacilina e difusão em meio sólido com oxacilina-1μg apresentaram dificuldades na sua interpretação. No entanto, todas as 45 amostras de MRSA, foram facilmente detectadas pelos testes com o disco de cefoxitina-30μg e pesquisa da PBP2a. A análise molecular das cepas de MRSA mostrou 8 padrões distintos de PFGE (A-H), com predominância do padrão A (73%), relacionado ao CEB. Estas carreavam o SCCmec tipo IIIA, e apresentaram uma considerável variedade de subtipos (A1-A16). Cinco cepas de MRSA portando SCCmec IV também foram xiv identificadas, três delas relacionadas geneticamente ao clone USA800 (Padrão B). Destas cinco, três (2 padrão F e 1 padrão B) foram altamente susceptíveis as drogas testadas, entretanto, dois outros isolados, padrão B, apresentaram multirresistência. As amostras restantes pertenciam a padrões de PFGE distintos dos clones internacionais predominantes em nosso continente. Para realização deste projeto de pesquisa, a metodologia exigiu a interação com pesquisadores de áreas como: infectologia, microbiologia e biologia molecular. Portanto, esta dissertação apresentou um caráter de multidisciplinaridade e transdiciplinaridade no seu desenvolvimento

Atenção ao usuário em um centro de referência HIV/Aids: perspectiva de profissionais e usuários

We study the health care focused on care in an intercessor and dialogical relationship with the User, which involves the construction of therapeutic projects essential to the quality of the treatment of the user in health services, and it is necessary individual and collective actions. It is intended to acknowledge and analyze the perception of social subjects, users and professionals on the treatment given to a user of a Specialized Outpatient Service (Serviço Ambulatorial Especializado SAE) in STD/HIV/AIDS state reference in Natal, RN. The study is structured in a transdisciplinary vision of science and knowledge, theoretical and methodological principles that give meaning to the expression of the institutional features of care and health care reconnecting them to the social context. As a research strategy we seek the expressions of 56 subjects of social research, which agreed to participate in the sample, from a symbolic map of the attention, coupled with the techniques of observation and semi-structured interview. For the analysis of the results, five categories of analysis were established: the meaning of the service, care perception, process of communication and interaction, treatment perception and organization and evaluation of the service. It is argued that the attention and care are developed in a technical health care assistance to the disease, focusing on attention based on treatment, on diagnostic and drug therapy of antiretroviral drugs, reflecting the traditional biomedical paradigm of attention to the disease. This is also the mode of organization of practical actions in daily SAE: the therapy proves to be fragmented in several specialties, vertical and feeds the same model, generating tension and overload for professionals; showing impersonal care focused on structured and informative technology, unrelated to an interactive dialogic. From the speech of the subjects, the SAE is understood as the place of confrontation with the disease, but also enables greater elaboration of the illness by meeting their peers. Living with HIV and AIDS is living with concern, apprehension and fear, but mainly with the stigma, prejudice and exclusion, which require that the disease is kept in secret. There is a movement of forces and power, expressed in the knowledge-power of those who dominate the technical and administrative capabilities, devices that concentrate the maintenance of the medicalization of care, rapid consultations and with little attention, making it difficult to interact with and listen to, combined with structural failures, organizational and inadequate management of the service. We conclude that there are dimensions that are not considered in the internal dynamics of the care service multiple forms, characterized by care conflicting models, marked by individual interventions related to the disease. The subject is not considered together with his speech as technical discourse is imposed and care production based on material technology is observed

As cidades medias no desenvolvimento regional: um estudo sobre Pau dos Ferros (RN)

Esta tese versa sobre as cidades médias no atual contexto do desenvolvimento urbano brasileiro e nordestino. Na região Nordeste, o processo de urbanização foi lento, atomizado, geográfico e economicamente disperso, o que resultou numa rede urbana truncada, constituída principalmente por suas nove capitais regionais e cerca de duas dezenas de cidades de porte médio, em sua maioria, interiorizadas. Foi a partir dessa rede urbana nordestina interiorizada que nos propomos a estudar Pau dos Ferros, no Rio Grande do Norte e o papel que ela desempenha na rede urbana nordestina e potiguar. Compreender os determinantes da produção do espaço urbano-regional de Pau dos Ferros que o caracterizam como cidade média, com fins a refletir sobre o seu papel no desenvolvimento regional foi o objetivo geral desta pesquisa. Nossa hipótese é que, a despeito de um contingente populacional pequeno, Pau dos Ferros vem desempenhando na rede urbana do Nordeste e do Rio Grande do Norte as funções de cidade média, particularmente, na oferta dos serviços de educação superior e saúde, além da oferta de empregos, notadamente no comércio e nos serviços públicos, o que nos permitiu tratá-la à priori, a partir do conceito de cidade (inter) média. Para esta investigação, partimos da proposta de estudo e do pensamento de autores como Faria (1978), Benko (1999) e Brandão (2007), os quais propõem o estudo do urbano a partir de situações concretas que permitam compreender os fenomenos em sua múltiplas causalidades. Dessa forma, o fio condutor desta análise foi o modo como vem se reconfigurando as cidades médias e como essa reconfiguração tem afetado de diferentes formas as relações entre as cidades e entre as cidades e as regiões. Os resultados das análises apontaram que os investimentos públicos em saúde e educação têm contribuído para a atração de investimentos privados em suas respectivas áreas, e também em outras, o que tem ajudado a dinamizar a economia da cidade, inclusive modificado parcialmente sua estrutura ocupacional. Pau dos Ferros se destacou como um polo comercial e de serviços na rede urbana potiguar, formando um outlier no Alto Oeste, organizando uma bacia de empregos na sua área de influência que constatamos ser composta por 55 municípios do RN, CE e PB. Ao se consolidar como polo regional na oferta dos serviços de saúde e de educação superior, ampliou-se o fluxo de pessoas que realizam movimento pendular para trabalho e estudo. Em síntese, constatou-se que, a despeito do pequeno contingente populacional, a configuração urbano-regional de Pau dos Ferros, tanto em termos de sua dinâmica urbana, como de sua abrangência regional, fazem dela uma cidade média na rede urbana nordestina interiorizada