O desafio da análise de redes de saúde no campo da saúde coletiva

Abstract

The organization of care in the Brazilian National Health System has placed growing emphasis on health care networks, both discursively and in its factual applications. However, analytical and evaluative approaches that have networks as an object are scarce. In this paper, we present a multidimensional construct, designed from the contributions of authors from the collective health field and from other disciplinary fields that address the subject. Our proposal introduces five dimensions developed after an analytical-reflexive approach on 23 papers that presented different aspects relevant to the analysis of health networks. By the means of a successive process of semantic reduction, we achieved a model composed by the following dimensions: Minimum units describe the fixed points from which the network connections occur; Connectivity refers to types and effects of the relations established between the minimum units; Integration refers to batch effects of both minimum units and their set of connections, characterized as coherence, continuity and complementarity; Normativity addresses design and adherence to clinical guidelines and singular care pathways, as well as admittance, discharge and referral criteria of each network point; Subjective aspects are the protagonisms, meanings, values and affective bonds present in the network. Those dimensions, functioning in an articulated manner, may support the development of conceptual-analytical models for networks, assisting in overcoming this challenge in the collective health field.