Social control in the Unified Health System: subsidies to build health counselors' skills

This paper discusses the experience of the training course for health counselors in the city of Vicosa, Minas Gerais State, from the perspective of awareness of the conscious exercise of social control, thus enabling the construction of a more fair and equitable health system, according to the ideal of the movement of the Brazilian health reform. We perform a qualitative approach on the dynamics presented in the course, which is based on the methodology of active teaching and learning. The participatory methodology and use of strategies that focused on the systematization of content, as well as the reflection on the theoretical frameworks presented from the correlation of topics with practical experiences were essential to broaden and deepen the process of empowerment of the counselors. As a result, it was possible to identify some challenges for the exercise of social control, such as the importance of active participation and the need to seek information and exchange experiences. Thus, it is emphasized that the participation of health counselors in training workshops appears as a possibility of overcoming the difficulties of implementing legal achievements, the awareness of these social actors to implement the position of mere passive spectators into protagonists in the construction of a universal and equitable health care system. Adapted from the source document.