Through a qualitative study, meanings attributed to the house call by Brazilian families who benefited from the Family Health Program are analyzed, with the objective of recognizing the difficulties and potential accumulated from this practice. From October to December of 2005, thirty women and ten men participated in open interviews, all between 18 and 79 years old as well as more than six-month residents in a health region of Cuiabá, MT, Brazil. Content analysis was used for data interpretation. The house call is conceived as an important method of approaching the Family Health Program and families, favoring greater access to its services, the construction of new relationships between users and the health care team, and the creation of a link between them. It is valued as an alternative to access to clinical care and to health monitoring, reiterating the practice carried out. At the same time, one hopes that it responds to the necessities it faces in the most broadened form possible.
Family Health Program; Home visit; Primary health care