The social representations of social control in health: the advances and effect of institutionalized social participation ¹

The aim of this study was to analyze the social representations of the chairpersons of the regional health councils in the Federal District about the practice of social control. It is a descriptive study based on Serge Moscovici's theory of social representations. In-depth interviews were conducted with thirteen chairpersons of regional health councils about social control in health. The data were analyzed with the help of ALCESTE software. The lexical analysis resulted in the identification of three core topics: the weaknesses of the regional health councils; the quest to strengthen social control; and the issue of representation in regional health councils. The content of the representations in the first core topic demonstrated the weakness of social control in health, either because of the lack of community access to information about the purpose of the councils or because representation of social control is linked to the inspection of health services or geared towards resolving immediate demands of the population. In the second core topic, the content of the representations demonstrated that the social representation of social control coexists in the space of the councils with an emphasis on social participation in public policymaking for health. In the third core topic, the content demonstrated the incipient nature of the representations of organized social movements of health services users. The regional health councils have demonstrated their potential in formulating public policies that favor social development, especially through discussion of local needs.

Social Control; Health Councils; Social Representations