PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE DAILY LIFE OF PRIMARY CARE: PRACTICES, KNOWLEDGE AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

Primary Health Care (PHC), structured as the basis of the Unified Health System, represents a privileged territory for Public Health action, bringing together clinical, educational, and community practices that are articulated in addressing social and health inequalities. This study, of a bibliographic and narrative nature, aimed to critically analyze the challenges, knowledge, and experiences that shape the daily life of PHC in Brazil, based on the interpretative reading of twelve academic and institutional documents published between 2022 and 2025. The results indicate that, although the normative frameworks reaffirm the principles of universality, comprehensiveness, and equity, the daily reality of health teams remains strained by precarious work, discontinuity of public policies, lack of continuing education, and low appreciation of popular knowledge and integrative practices. It was also found that the implementation of an emancipatory PHC requires the recognition of the complexity of territories, the appreciation of qualified listening and the reconfiguration of relations between the State, professionals and the community. It is concluded that Public Health, when rooted in the concrete experiences of primary care, has transformative potential, as long as it is supported by public policies committed to ethical care and social justice.