Intersectoral collaboration and Primary Health Care: attention to women in situation of violence

ABSTRACT

Actions that happen through an intersectoral network are challenging for the care of women in situations of gender violence. The qualitative research developed in this article used a case study to investigate the possibilities of building an intersectoral network between Primary Health Care and specialized services in the care of those women, specifically in the central region of Rio de Janeiro. Data collected through semistructured interviews and observation of the services were submitted to content analysis. In this article we analyzed: the network of services currently in place; the relationship between primary care and specialized services; and the place of primary care within the comprehensive care of women in situations of violence. The results indicate that there is a tendency towards building a networked assistance, even though several institutional obstacles and the culture of assistance work in each type of service generate a still scarcely integrated configuration as a network. Even so, the results also show that the reference centers for assistance to gender violence are currently the services with the greatest potential to act in a network, especially in relation to the health sector.

KEYWORDS
Primary Health Care; Gender-based violence; Comprehensive health care