[Discourse of primary care professionals of the Community of Madrid on group work: sense, aims, and intervention scope].
BACKGROUND
Health Education with groups is an increasingly important activity in primary care. For the purpose of contributing to the furthering thereof, this research is aimed at ascertaining the opinions of the health care professionals with regard to the group practices and particularly with regard to their reason for being, purposes and fields of intervention.


METHODS
From a qualitative-structural perspective, four discussion groups and four open interviews were held with general practitioners, specialists in Pediatrics, in Family and Community Medicine, Nursing and Social Work in the Primary Care Areas in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.


RESULTS
The opinions of the primary care professionals regarding the groups are confined to the activities of Health Education, this being an activity subject to individual inquiry. To form groups, the professionals include arguments on the order of hierarchy, efficiency, effectiveness and personal satisfaction. The main groups regarding which the group work was done are chronic patients (hypertension and diabetes), women (pre-menopause, general malaise), school-age children and teachers, community associations and caregivers of the chronically ill.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of the primary care professionals consider the work with groups to be something on the side, the end purpose of which would be savings and, on a secondary scale, Health Education. These groups mainly regard chronic patients and women, community work being approached on a second plane.
Duro Martínez
Juan Carlos
JC
Centro Universitario de Salud Pública, Comunidad de Madrid-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Salud Pública e Historia de la Ciencia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid. juancarlos.duro@uam.es
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006126:Group Processes; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013030:Spain