Institutional support and network production: Lack of tranquility in the current maps for public health

Abstract

Although the field of public health has achieved important theoretical and practical consolidations, it remains under construction. Therefore, along with movements that will go on forming in this field, we propose a discursive approach for this paper, in order to consider the texture of healthcare production networks, starting from the institutional support function and, more specifically, from how this function has been experienced in the mental health network in Aracaju, Sergipe. According to the National Humanization Policy, institutional support should be given through implication and introduction of space within daily healthcare production, through a viewpoint constructed in conjunction with managers, workers, users and the community. In line with this perspective and the ethical and political bet, we envisage that the institutional support function will be a powerful device for questioning habitual (and sometimes chronic) concepts and methods within public health, thereby enabling new links and the production of healthcare networks.