title: [Reflections on primary care: a proposal for a conceptual framework].
abstract: The article begins with a general analysis of the salient health problems of most Latin American countries. It correlates the situation with changes that have come about in the various socioeconomic structures and take an historical approach to the different ways in which the health/disease phenomenon has been viewed, ways which are regarded as determined by the kind of care provided during particular eras. The author emphasizes the need to study the various theoretical framework of health and disease in order to be able to discern from the overall picture just where medicine is headed today and how medicine and nursing are practiced. She reflects on some factors that have limited the implementation of several of the more desirable aspects of health services delivery such as teamwork, reallocation of functions, and institutional regionalization. Lastly, she proposes a conceptual framework for primary care as a strategy for addressing the problems outlined.
mesh_terms: D007843:Latin America; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D011321:Primary Nursing / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
vernacular_title: Reflexiones sobre la atención primaria: proposición de un marco conceptual.