State of the art of health observatories: narratives on policy and systems analysis

ABSTRACT The democratization and ease of publication of information, supported by new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), has provided the increasing use of tools designated as 'observatories' as an institutional device for health. The expansion of the demand for information in the process of elaboration and/or monitoring of public policies of the most distinct areas and fields of knowledge production has been a factor that has facilitated, in recent decades, the use of these tools in many countries, among them Brazil . This article aims to present the results of a review of the literature on existing observatories in the health area, characterizing the scientific production on Brazilian and international experiences dedicated to the analysis of policies and systems. The main research themes, researchers and study results were identified, with the purpose of discussing the functions of these observatories and possible contributions to health policies. Through an advanced search in databases, 233 publications were found. From the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 40 studies were selected for analysis and categorization. Most of the studies show that observatories had the function of providing credible information for follow-up on health policies, strategic planning and evidence-based decision making. It is worth mentioning the tendency to increase the capacity of the workforce in health research, to facilitate the management of data and the availability of information, as well as the functioning as a virtual repository of information or, also, the network organization. It is concluded with a reflection on the limits and possibilities of observatories as a new tool for health policies.