Abstract

BONILHA, Luís R. C. M.  and  RIVOREDO, Carlos R. S. F.. Well-child care: two distinct views. J. Pediatr. (Rio J.) [online]. 2005, vol.81, n.1, pp. 7-13. ISSN 0021-7557.  http://dx.doi.org/10.2223/1276.

OBJECTIVE: To present, in an essay form, two distinct views on well-child care. METHODS: Using several different methods of historical analysis, the two most common views on well-child care are presented: the positivist one, whose foundation is essentially based upon historical facts, and that of social criticism, concerned with how historical facts are inserted in society at different levels. RESULTS: The coexistence of two distinct views on well-child care reveals two conflicting ideologies, but it does not invalidate the two different types of knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the understanding of well-child care through a historical approach does not allow for definitive conclusions on what it is or what it will be, it encourages reflections on more practical meanings, namely: the possibility to consider practices that gather an ensemble of positive knowledge without disregarding their limitations, and the formulation of well-child care practices concerned with social care, determined by several aspects, instead of by ideological interest.

Keywords : Well-child care; history; ideology.