Letramento funcional em saúde? compreensão do construto na atuação em medicina

Abstract

The needs of the population suggest a new configuration in health assessments, in view of the increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases in the context of health services. This complaint problematizes the doctor’s knowledge of his work and instigates the thought that self-knowledge is essential for the success of the care provided. Therefore, combining the Functional Health Literacy (FHL) with evaluative interventions becomes a protective factor for the user’s comprehensive care. This work is characterized as descriptive exploratory of qualitative nature, whose general objective was to describe the understanding of FHL by physicians working in Primary Health Care (PHC) and in the hospital context. The participants, 10 medical professionals, underwent a semi-structured interview and a sociodemographic and professional performance questionnaire. The work followed the current ethical precepts. The results were presented descriptively, composing the profile of the interviewees and based on the semi-structured interview, three categories were identified: (un)knowledge of FHL; training in medicine and the FHL; and the FHL and the impact on professional performance. Data analysis followed the methodological orientation of thematic content analysis. The results and discussions point to possibilities to be considered based on the knowledge of the FHL determinant.