Frequently Asked Questions from Users of a Health Center in Belo Horizonte about the Functioning of the Unit, and a Motion for Clarification

Introduction: one of the assumptions of the National Program of Reorientation of Professional Training in Health (Pró-Health) and the Health Education through Work Program (PET-Health) is to qualify health professionals in service and assist in the initiation of undergraduate students, attending courses in the health area, into work and training with the perspective of qualification of attention and insertion of the services’ needs as a source of knowledge production and research in higher education institutions. In this perspective, for proper familiarization and recognition of the Health Center (CS) by the students in the PET-Health/UFMG program in the Leopoldo Crisóstomo de Castro Health Center (CSLCC), activities were carried out involving a guideline based on observation of the different physical spaces and services offered, answers to questions about the characteristics of health/disease in the covered area prepared by the preceptors, and activities executed from the individual academics’ own choices to complete the desirable familiarization and recognition. Objective: to present the development of an action plan established on the basis of the triangulation of three activities for the familiarization and recognition carried out by the PET-Health /UFMG group from the CSLCC. Methods: the following question arose from the triangulation of the recognition and familiarization activities: “are the employees satisfied with the dynamics of the CSLCC operation andtheir own work?” A questionnaire was drafted to obtain answers and applied to the employees in an interview format. After the analysis of the responses, a plan of action was elaborated to seek the means to solve part of the dissatisfaction. Results: a high level of dissatisfaction was identified in employees who worked at the pharmacy and reception. The major complaint was repeatedly built in the great difficulty in dealing with the customers/users of the health center. The justifications for this difficulty consisted in the fact that users often were not aware of the functioning rules set for the unit and thus, easily become impatient when not served as desired. Such attitudes generated wear and stress in the working environment, greatly harming the functioning of the system. Therefore, newsletters, in the flowchart format, were developed and posted on the CS walls and flyers were made available on the front desk to educate users about the internal rules necessary and indispensable for the proper functioning of the unit. A bank of questions was established from a survey conducted with users and staff from different sectors in the CSLCC. With the aid of the preceptor, questions were answered in plain and accessible language to users. After collection of about 30 questions and answers, 14 questions were selected, together with the CS management, to be disclosed in the unit. Conclusion: the produced material can be an important tool for clarification to users