The limited access of People with Disabilities to health services in a northeastern capital

Abstract

The access of People with Disabilities (PwD) to specialized care services was analyzed on the basis of the availability-accommodation and adequacy dimensions. This is a case study with a qualitative approach and triangulation of sources based on documentary research, data from the Health Information Systems and semi-structured interviews with managers, health professionals and PwD. There was an expansion of rehabilitation services in Recife, although it was not possible to analyze the production capacity of such services. The findings point to the existence of architectural and urban barriers and insufficient resources in the services studied. Furthermore, there is a long waiting time for specialized care and difficult access to assistive technologies. It was also observed that professionals have low qualifications to meet the needs of PwD and a process of permanent education in different levels of complexity has not been instituted for workers. The conclusion drawn is that the institution of the Municipal Policy of Comprehensive Health Care for the PwD was insufficient to guarantee access to health services with continuity of care, considering the permanence of the fragmentation of the care network, thus violating the right to health of this segment.

Key words:
Access to health services; People with Disabilities; Integrated Health Care Systems