The Role of Health Professionals in Transforming Care: Resolutive Primary Health Care

Primary Health Care (PHC) is globally recognized as the foundation of effective, efficient, and equitable health systems. Instituted by the World Health Organization in the Alma-Ata Declaration (1978), PHC serves as the preferred entry point to health systems, emphasizing comprehensiveness, continuity, coordination, and resolutiveness. In Brazil, the Family Health Strategy (ESF) exemplifies PHC implementation, showing significant progress in access and service organization. Health professionals are central actors in transforming health care, requiring technical, communicative, ethical, and interprofessional skills to promote health, prevent diseases, manage chronic conditions, and coordinate care networks. Resolutiveness—addressing the majority of population health problems within PHC—is a key quality indicator and directly linked to professional qualification and engagement. This essay discusses the role of health professionals in advancing resolutive PHC in Brazil, analyzing organizational, pedagogical, and social aspects that impact professional performance and the need to reorient care models toward person- and community-centered approaches.