Potential of social participation spaces in Primary Health Care for promoting citizenship and local public policies

Abstract

Introduction: In contexts such as the current one, in which public policies and participatory management spaces have been dismantled, weakened, or extinguished in the national public agenda, the discussion on social participation in the everyday life of services, especially in a capillary strategy such as the Family Health Strategy, becomes even more relevant and necessary. Objectives: In this manuscript, we show the perception of users, managers, and workers of the Family Health Strategy concerning the potential of social participation spaces in Primary Health Care for promoting citizenship and local public policies. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 participants linked to five Family Health Units in the municipality of João Pessoa (state of Paraíba, Brazil). After organizing and systematizing the information, the content analysis method was employed. Results: The verified dimensions were summarized in five synthesis-ideas: formulation of health policies based on the understanding of community demands, as stated by their protagonists; knowledge sharing and collective formulation between team and users, thus promoting the expansion of local health actions; creating foundations for citizenship from the perspective of community empowerment; strengthening institutionalized spaces of participation consistent with local health demands; weaknesses for effective influence of spaces of social participation on     the promotion of local public policies. Conclusions: Social participation becomes a key  factor   for creating public spaces of representativeness and proactiveness of social groups, in planning, developing, and assessing health policies.