ABSTRACT
This study is aimed at identifying and analyzing the factors that influence and condition the decision to participate in Local Health Commissions, participatory spaces located in the Basic Health Units (Unidades Básicas de Saúde - UBS). Twenty-one members were interviewed and data were analyzed using the Collective Subject Discourse technique. The idea of participation was verified in the users' discourses as a means for the population to access the functioning of the UBS and to the commission itself. Workers used the principles of primary care to justify their participation. Managers, on the other hand, aware of the importance of these forums for users, seek to develop democratic and supportive management practices.
KEYWORDS
Social participation; Primary Health Care; Health policy