Recent changes in the Brazilian Social Security Institute’s professional rehabilitation program

This article analyses the transformations that have taken place in the Professional Rehabilitation Program of the Brazilian Institute of Social Security since 2009. It is considered that the aforementioned service was conceived and operated based on the so-called field of Workers’ Health, but since 2018 suffered a process of disruption. The characteristics of this process are revealed through the analysis of technical manuals of procedures (2011, 2016 and 2018), as they contain theoretical concepts, organization rules and service objectives. The article is developed in three parts that sequentially show the construction of the Workers’ Health field, its insertion in the Social Security public policy and, finally, its operationalization and its transformations through manuals of procedures. The results reveal a process of de-structuring of the program, which moves away from a multidimensional conception of worker’s health, while the biological dimension becomes central.

Keywords:
worker’s health; National Institute of Social Security; professional rehabilitation