Control of Household Contacts of Leprosy by Family Health Teams

Abstract

Goals: To evaluate leprosy household contact control actions developed by the Family Health Teams (Equipes de Saude da Familia - ESF) from the Second Sanitary District of Recife, and describe their relevance, the obstacles to their accomplishment, as well as the strategies for overcoming such obstacles, from the health professional’s perspective. Methods: a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. A semi-structured survey by ESF professionals was used for data collection. Results: the relevance of household contact control actions is recognized by ESF professionals. However, there have been some obstacles, such as user absences at the health care units and some difficulties in accomplishing education activities. Conclusion: it’s necessary to maintain more effective surveillance on leprosy household contacts, as well as to increase integration among the city administration, health professionals, and users, offering them more efficient care.