Abstract
This paper is a qualitative evaluation of the main results of an evaluation study on management processes of a Psychosocial Care Network, in the light of the Theory of Communicative Action. The data collection included 19 individual semi-structured interviews with participants of the Management Collegiate and 20 hours of participant observation in eight meetings of this collegiate, from May to September 2015, with analysis using a hermeneutic-dialectic approach. The results showed a complex network of psychosocial care with management processes related to instrumental and communicative actions. Instrumental action was demonstrated in discussions about the rigid use of workflows, rules and protocols; prescriptive actions without collective negotiation and without user inclusion; and medicalization based on technical criteria alone. The communicative action was to be seen in actions of agreement on workflows, discussions and case referrals; intersectoral agreements with the judiciary; and deliberations of the Management Collegiate on cases, which are not solved only with a technical approach. The conclusion drawn is that the management processes of a Psychosocial Care Network are guided by communicative action, but also require overcoming an action defined by instrumental actions alone.
Key words:
Health management; Mental health; Qualitative research; Health evaluation