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Definition English:
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The Brazilian Family Health Strategy (FHS) was launched in 1994 as an integral part of Brazil\'s universal national health system (known as the Sistema Único de Saúde or SUS). The FHS was intended to improve upon existing \'traditional\' health posts and centres centers in the country with a model of care explicitly designed to achieve the core functions of primary care as outlined above. In the FHS, multi-professional health teams (composed of a physician, a nurse, a nurse assistant and 4-6 community health workers) are organized by geographic regions to provide primary care to approximately 1000 families (or about 3500 people). FHS enrolment is not based on individual choice; it is determined by whether a person\'s residence is within the FHS team\'s catchment area. In heavily populated areas, there may be more than one FHS team per health facility, but each team is assigned a specific territory and has a list of which families it serves. As with other services delivered by the SUS, there are no user fees for services and most medications are delivered free of charge (From: Paim et al. 2011; Macinko J, Lima Costa MF. Access to, use of and satisfaction with health services among adults enrolled in Brazil\'s Family Health Strategy: evidence from the 2008 National Household Survey.Trop Med Int Health 2012; 17: 36-42. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02866.x/abstract) |