Acesso aos imunobiológicos especiais: uma pesquisa convergente assistencial

Abstract

Vaccines are effective tools for disease control and eradication, with immunization being the procedure for preventing infectious agents through the administration of vaccines and/or immunoglobulins. This study aimed to investigate strategies to improve user access to special immunobiologicals from the perspective of professionals, with the following care objectives: to identify, based on the professionals’ perspective, which strategies can be implemented to improve access for users seeking special immunobiologicals in the city of Pelotas and to develop an information technology proposal to facilitate access for users seeking special immunobiologicals in the city of Pelotas. This is a convergent care research study, conducted in a reference service for access to immunobiologicals provided by the Special Immunobiologicals Reference Center. Eleven professionals working at the study site participated. Data collection took place through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and field diary records, observation notes, and field notes, from February to March 2024. Subsequently, the data were fully transcribed with double-checking and validation by the participants working professionally at Casa da Vacina, then entered into the WebQDA software for organization and categorization of results, followed by content analysis of qualitative data, according to the steps proposed by convergent care research, supported by Paulo Freire’s theoretical framework. The information was organized and coded to serve as a basis for the development of a theoretical model, which resulted in three categories: Users’ journey in accessing special immunobiologicals; Strategies to facilitate user access; Building convergence: Transfer phase. The results demonstrate that professionals understand the various difficulties users face in accessing special immunobiologicals and highlight system failures, from the lack of vaccines in primary health units to excessive bureaucracy and misinformation, and recognize the need for solutions to make the process more efficient and accessible. Likewise, they perceive that the implementation of information technologies, decentralization of vaccination services, and improvement in guidance and information for users could help mitigate these difficulties and improve access to special immunobiologicals. Finally, in the transfer phase, an information technology proposal was presented to facilitate access to special vaccines. It is considered that it was possible to identify the needs and present strategies capable of facilitating user access to special immunobiologicals.