Social accountability and citizen engagement in healthcare: the experience of a Brazilian city

Abstract

The article analyses how the Local Health Councils(LHC) in the city of Florianópolis gather and produce information; how they use information and communication technology and relate to other councils, civil society organizations and other public agencies. The theoretical approach is based on the concepts of social accountability and citizen engagement. In this qualitative research conducted between 2013 and 2015, the authors applied semi-structured interviews with representatives of Local Health Councils, analyzed documents and used direct observation of meetings of the LHCs and events gathering members of the councils. The conclusion is that the work of the Local Health Councils goes beyond the healthcare issues and it is an important mechanism to approximate the city public administration to the communities. The LHCs have contributed in the engagement of the citizens in coproduction of public goods and health services.