The brazilian national program for improving access and quality of primary care: A disciplinary apparatus in the management

Abstract

The Brazilian National Program for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality envisaged improvements in the management process of primary care through strategies that involve performance assessment, expansion of funding and improvements in teamwork. This article analyzes the discourses of municipal managers regarding the program to (re) think about the management of primary care based on Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework. By viewing the program as an apparatus, we identified components present in the construction of the macro-politics and in its development in baselines, in the cities, that favored the exercise of disciplinary power in the management of contemporary public health. In this context, managers use program strategies to control behaviors and working practices in Primary Care through mechanisms such as normalization and surveillance.