Abstract

CARVALHO, Denis Barros de; SANTANA, Janaína Macêdo  and  SANTANA, Vera Macêdo de. Humanization and social control: the psychologist as health ombudsman. Psicol. cienc. prof. [online]. 2009, vol.29, n.1, pp.172-183. ISSN 1414-9893.

This paper presents an essay about the psychologist practice as health ombudsman. The social control (Health Councils, Health Conferences, Health Commissions) is initially evaluated. The role of the health ombudsman in social control in the context of humanization of the public health system is evaluated through a dialog with authors of the area of public health, social sciences and psychology. The humanization is a kind of assistance that gives importance to the technical quality association with recognition of the patient’s rights. A proposal of the comprehension of Health Commissions as a challenge for social health psychology is presented taking into account an analysis of the Brazilian theoretical production. After that, an experience of the psychologist’s work as health ombudsman is discussed in the end, and some suggestions about the role social psychology plays in the context of health ombudsman as social control instrument are presented.

Keywords : Health ombudsman; Psychologist performance; Humanization; Health care system.

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