Entrevistas por telefone: perspectivas e usos durante a pandemia de COVID-19

The interviews, using digital devices, have been characterized as an important aspect of qualitative studies. However, the pandemic context amplified the challenges for the implementation of this information gathering technique. This chapter aimed to discuss the perspectives and uses telephone interviews during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter is initially organized with an overview of the electronic interview, the possibilities of its use and limitations. Then, the report on the experience of a group of Brazilian researchers in the development of a multicenter study on Integrative and Complementary Practices in Primary Health Care is presented. Next, the conduct of the interviews in this pandemic scenario is described as challenge. Several times, they were interrupted, so that the respondent could attend to any pending issue to be resolved at the health unit. This circumstance is not a peculiarity of moments of pandemic, since studies with themes similar to this one already report the occurrence of similar experiences. However, COVID-19 was added to the priority processes of Primary Health Care. The Basic Health Units are close to users, playing an indispensable role in the health care of the population affected by the new coronavirus. Thus, it would be natural and expected that these cuts occurred during the interview. It is concluded that all the steps for conducting interviews were conditioned by the COVID19 pandemic and conditioned prior planning, maintenance of the ethical component, the choice of participants, interviewers, the moment for conducting them and the way to access their driving.