Evidence-based practice in the context of Primary Health Care

ABSTRACT Evidence-based practice brings together the best scientific knowledge with the professional’s clinical experience and the patient’s choice, resulting in a higher resoluteness in health care. The research was carried out aiming at analyzing the evidence-based practice of professionals from Family Health Strategy teams, in a city in the state of Santa Catarina. It was a quantitative study, developed through questionnaires with 112 health professionals. The results showed that professionals consider evidence-based practice essential; however, such practice is more focused on clinical experience in their actions. Moreover, they do not feel completely qualified to search for scientific evidence, highlighting their little knowledge and abilities on research. In addition, they emphasized that applying evidence-based practice is even more difficult because of high demand for care, lack of foreign language skills and lack of management support. As a conclusion, primary care professionals need some improvement for the development of evidence-based practice, which doesn´t only depend on their individual willingness, but it is also a responsibility of educational institutions and health services.