Attention to the homeless population in family health units: the perception of health workers

Abstract

The complexity of the homelessness phenomenon reinforces the importance of public policies to confront it effectively. It requires an urgent global response, as it portrays the denial of human dignity and the deprivation of rights, with repercussions for health. This study aimed to characterize the health care provided to the homeless population, in family health units, from the health workers' perspective and identify strategies and difficulties in approaching this population. This is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, carried out in family health units, in a large city in the interior of São Paulo, in 2020. It was noted that there are social and organizational barriers to accessing health care for these people, which may cause a decrease in the search for care. Health teams barely identified the demand of this population in their units and did not carry out training activities on the subject. Due to a lack of training, workers did not use the window of opportunity to treat health conditions and performed care based on urgent situations. It can be said that the difficulty in accessing services and the lack of specific training for health workers constitute a cycle that is perpetuated in the denial of the right to health for this population. It is necessary to offer training moments on the subject for changes in the work process and the programming and provision of assistance actions, health promotion, disease prevention, and harm reduction based on the specificity of this population group.