The article presents a case study with a qualitative approach aimed to analyze the meanings of social participation in health among community leaders and professionals of the Family Health Strategy (ESF) in the territory of Vila Uniao in Sobral, Ceara state, Brazil. Data were collected through focus groups and analyzed using content analysis techniques. The results showed that the socially and historically produced meanings of social participation, recognized as a conquest and a right, are associated with engagement, social transformation, commitment to seeking community improvements, action / social intervention, social role, the collective construction and mobilization of community solidarity and liberating education. The research provided information on the meanings of participation in the ESF and on the barriers inherent in political life and are directly related to the construction of Brazilian National Health (SUS). We consider very important building a new model of care grounded in social participation and pointing to a network of commitments and ties of affection with a powerful SUS / ESF that could involve, especially, the community.
Social participation; Brazilian National Health System; primary care; family health