Work policy and health care, daily life and management in the Unified Health System (SUS) were some of the reflections addressed this Monday (22) in the lecture “Challenges for the production of health care and the hegemony of the biomedical model” taught by the doctor and professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Emerson Elias Merhy, to residents and preceptors of the Center for Health Education and Research Anita Garibaldi, from the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD). 

The activity, created by students from Multiprofessional Residency in Health Care for Persons with Disabilities, aimed to raise the debate about the challenges in health care, relating theory and practice of professions in the area. For Giovanni Sampaio, psychology resident at the Institute, the moment was important to stimulate critical thinking about work in practice.

“We need to make the 'link' between theory and practice, so that our actions are increasingly contextualized and committed to the precepts of the SUS, which is our basis and also the basis of Merhy's studies. We chose this topic and the professor because of this relationship between what he studies and what we do here, because health work requires us to always be attentive so as not to lose what is basic in our profession, care”, explains the resident. 

Of his 47 years as a doctor, Emerson Elias Merhy spent 45 working in public health. The practice of almost five decades is the basis for research focused on the analysis and reflection of work and health care policy. The professor defends a broader view of users.

“In my understanding, all users are, first and foremost, a more widely lived life, they are much more than just a user of that service. And you need to be open to that. Imagine being a health professional and not being open to the presence of others, if this other is what justifies us being professionals”, said the professor during the lecture. 

Merhy criticizes the hegemonic model of biomedicine that refers to patients as machines. “I learned in medicine, during six years (of college), that the other is just a body, a machine that was working properly and had a problem, and I am a mechanic who needs to correct that. This perspective does not take into account everyday encounters, key elements for us to experience the knowledge we have and be open to new knowledge”, he observes.  

In his research, the doctor and professor defends the so-called “techno-assistance model”, a process made up of health, assistance and care work technologies. For Merhy, it is necessary to change the hegemonic care model, expanding care with investments in relational technologies, centered on users' needs. 

Permanent Education 

This Monday's lecture (22), directed and organized by the Institute's residents, is part of ISD's Permanent Education actions and other meetings with professors and researchers in the health field should be promoted throughout the year, according to Giovanni Sampaio. 

“This is the first step we are taking in this direction, and moments like this lecture are very expensive for us, residents. This way we can be discussing and debating with big names who bring new perspectives and perspectives to our areas of activity”, he says. 

For the neuropsychologist and coordinator of ISD's health teaching activities, Samantha Maranhão, the training period contributes to the qualification of the Institute's team. “The objective is precisely to bring a vision of the health work process centered on care. Lectures like this update and qualify our team, especially the residents. Furthermore, Merhy is a very important professor of national and international representation in public health and work in the SUS”, he states. 

Emerson Elias Merhy has a degree in Medicine from the University of São Paulo, a master's degree in Medicine (Preventive Medicine) from the University of São Paulo and a doctorate in Public Health from the State University of Campinas. Associate professor in Health Planning and Management, at Unicamp and full professor of Public Health at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He is Professor Honoris Causa at the National University of Rosario, Argentina, professor of the Professional Master's Degree in Primary Health Care at UFRJ and Permanent Professor of Postgraduate Studies at the Institute of Psychology at UFRJ – EICOS.