Dimensions of continuity of care in the experience of People Living with HIV

Abstract

This article aims to analyze three dimensions of the continuity of care – management, informational, and relational – in the experience of People Living with HIV (PLHIV). A qualitative study was conducted based on 45 semi-structured PLHIV interviews by users in specialty polyclinics in a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The thematic analysis signaled in the management dimension inflexibility in the days and times of performance and delivery of exams that can compromise care continuity. There was no evidence of an institutionalized reference and counter-referencing system. There is a need to adapt the infrastructure of the service to ensure users’ privacy. Informational continuity was affected by the absence of integration and communication instruments between providers, shared electronic medical records, and communication channels between users and health services. Relational continuity has shown the importance of bonding with infectologists to maintain a regular source of care, treatment adherence, and low absenteeism. Care-oriented to the person combined with appropriate organizational conditions – involving work process, intra flows, and between network services, computerization, and connectivity are key elements to make a relationship of confidence and therapeutic reciprocity possible, being subject to interventions for its reach.