Public Health System in Brazil and Appointments in Clinics

Challenge

I am a nursing student at FAMT in Brazil, currently

studying public health administration and programs. In the section of  epidemiology we usually recieve and use a lot of information and data to better  understand what is happening, and in the situational case that we will be  looking at we have to be sure we can make efficient choices of policies for  public health.

In Brazil, we have an unique public health system called “SUS” (Sistema

Único de Saúde) in which the majority of the country population uses to get their  medications or make appointments with doctors of especialized areas. All of it  being for free, as a part of government service to it’s people. But as of 2020, as  the COVID-19 and coronavirus situation began to spread, more and more  people haven’t been recieving their treatment in their usual time. This could lead  to a worsening of public health because people aren’t treating themselves for  diseases that could be easily avoidable. So, what could be a solution to see and  treat those who are sick without putting heath service workers in danger, as we  are currently in quarentine?

Selection – Storytelling

Health is a matter of the public, that being said no other tool of design

thinking could fit more perfectly with the case described above than the  storytelling tool. The “SUS” being a system really helps to have a more human  approach to the problem and solution, we have all the people data divided in a  bunch of categories, but talking to the population itself really helps to have a  better understanding of the situation as we can ask directly to them the  following questions: “what is the problem?”, “why is this problem happening?”  and “how can we solve it?”. To listen and put ourselves in those situations of  each person, that is what we should be doing to have a better health system  that is reacheable for everyone.

Application

In the first few days of our project, we stood in front of a clinic with a little

booth where people could apply to answer to our interview. We would also have  some formularies that each person could fill about the public health service  graded on a number base from 1 to 10 (1 being “not satisfied” and 10 being  “very satisfied”) about their own experience. We used masks and applied all the  hygiene protocols necessary to ensure there would be no contamination or  danger to anyone.

We noticed that not as many people went to said clinic in comparison

with same period of last year (January – April) and more people where giving up

on their appoitments, or simply not showing up without saying anything. Maybe  it was because of fear of being contaminated with the coronavirus, or maybe  because they were lockdown in their own houses? We had to take a new  approach, that’s when we started having the interviews through phone calls  where we would ask the same questions as the formularies and ask the  population for it’s opinion. That’s also where we found our insight of what we  could do in such a new situation of a pandemic.

Insight

Simply by making phone calls we discovered that people felt more

complied to answer our interview fully, and even themselves said it would be a  great idea to have their appointments through telephones or cellphones. When  we started making the phone calls we selected a group of few people that  agreed that we could call them in specific times, and now we could our research  safely from our office. So we decided to follow what people wanted and  suggested that the clinic we were working on started doing their health check- ups through phone calls. Not physical check-ups of course, but the psycologic  part of it.

Approach

We were surprised to discover that our own tool of trying to discover what

the problem was could be one way to our solution. The clinic started doing  online check-ups as well besides the phone calls and the number of people  satisfied with their appointments with doctors increased in a modest but thankful  way, as more people are having their health problems and doubts solved. The  medication now is also being delivered at people’s houses, so they don’t have  to go to drugstores or pharmacies.


Public Health System in Brazil and Appointments in Clinics Challenge I am a nursing student at FAMT in Brazil , currently studying public health administration and programs . In the section of epidemiology we usually recieve and use a lot of information and data to better understand what is happening , and in the situational case that we will be looking at we have to be sure we can make efficient choices of policies for public health . In Brazil , we have an unique public health system called “ SUS ” ( Sistema Único de Saúde ) in which the majority of the country population uses to get their medications or make appointments with doctors of especialized areas . All of it being for free , as a part of government service to it ’s people . But as of 2020 , as the COVID-19 and coronavirus situation began to spread , more and more people have n’t been recieving their treatment in their usual time . This could lead to a worsening of public health because people are n’t treating themselves for diseases that could be easily avoidable . So , what could be a solution to see and treat those who are sick without putting heath service workers in danger , as we are currently in quarentine ? Selection – Storytelling Health is a matter of the public , that being said no other tool of design thinking could fit more perfectly with the case described above than the storytelling tool . The “ SUS ” being a system really helps to have a more human approach to the problem and solution , we have all the people data divided in a bunch of categories , but talking to the population itself really helps to have a better understanding of the situation as we can ask directly to them the following questions : “ what is the problem ? ” , “ why is this problem happening ? ” and “ how can we solve it ? ” . To listen and put ourselves in those situations of each person , that is what we should be doing to have a better health system that is reacheable for everyone . Application In the first few days of our project , we stood in front of a clinic with a little booth where people could apply to answer to our interview . We would also have some formularies that each person could fill about the public health service graded on a number base from 1 to 10 ( 1 being “ not satisfied ” and 10 being “ very satisfied ” ) about their own experience . We used masks and applied all the hygiene protocols necessary to ensure there would be no contamination or danger to anyone . We noticed that not as many people went to said clinic in comparison with same period of last year ( January – April ) and more people where giving up on their appoitments , or simply not showing up without saying anything . Maybe it was because of fear of being contaminated with the coronavirus , or maybe because they were lockdown in their own houses ? We had to take a new approach , that ’s when we started having the interviews through phone calls where we would ask the same questions as the formularies and ask the population for it ’s opinion . That ’s also where we found our insight of what we could do in such a new situation of a pandemic . Insight Simply by making phone calls we discovered that people felt more complied to answer our interview fully , and even themselves said it would be a great idea to have their appointments through telephones or cellphones . When we started making the phone calls we selected a group of few people that agreed that we could call them in specific times , and now we could our research safely from our office . So we decided to follow what people wanted and suggested that the clinic we were working on started doing their health check- ups through phone calls . Not physical check - ups of course , but the psycologic part of it . Approach We were surprised to discover that our own tool of trying to discover what the problem was could be one way to our solution . The clinic started doing online check - ups as well besides the phone calls and the number of people satisfied with their appointments with doctors increased in a modest but thankful way , as more people are having their health problems and doubts solved . The medication now is also being delivered at people ’s houses , so they do n’t have to go to drugstores or pharmacies .