Abstract

RODRIGUEZ JUSTIZ, Félix  and  ZAYAS VINENT, Meinardo. Estudios para el perfeccionamiento del plan del médico de la familia. Rev Cubana Med Gen Integr [online]. 1997, vol.13, n.1, pp.12-18. ISSN 0864-2125.

This piece of work is an operational field research, whose objective is to find out the main difficulties, limitations, and obstacles which avoid achieving the improvement of the family physician's work. In this research, several tools of the epidemiologic practice were applied on the main social plaintiffs of the local health systems. The piece of work owns a background of studies carried out at City of Havana and the Havana province, and now at Pinar del Río, Villa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo provinces. A hundred and 21 family physicians, 17 health leaders and 26 administrative personnel leaders, were studied. The research found out that the most important limitations are due to the need for defining and addressing the health care with an epidemiological approach, involving all the actions about health; that the social and communitary problems are identified as the source of health disorders, but the social plaintiffs are not well trained to carry out actions leading to a change, and the community is not known as a source for the solution of its own health problems. A poor preparation was also found, and besides an incomplete dedication of the local health leaders and the administrative personnel leaders as to fully operate all the issues in primary health care, and to design teamwork techniques to allow carrying out thoroughly the health policy. This is ended with strategic recommendations to overcome the obstacles, difficulties and limitations found, and thus increase the efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency of our primary health care system.

Keywords : LOCAL HEALTH SYSTEMS; HEALTH CARE; PHYSICIANS, FAMILY; PRIMARY HEALTH CARE; OPERATIONS RESEARCH; ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL.