• Cláudio Luis da Cunha Gastal and Celso Gutfreind.
• Programa de Pós-graduação em Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Luterana do Brasil, Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. claudiogastal@brturbo.com.br
• Cad Saude Publica. 2007 Aug 1;23(8):1835-44.

AbstractThe present paper originated from a qualitative study that analyzed social representations related to the right to health, expressed by users of two types of mental health services, one with participation by users and families and the other without such participation. The aim was to analyze such representations not only in relation to the awareness of the right to health, but also concerning associated factors, such as: popular participation; illness; public health care; perception of social intervention capacity; and concepts concerning the state. Social representations of the right to health involve expectations that the health system and the state meet their roles of ensuring care and support. Users of the mental health service without user/family participation tended to be more resigned and pessimistic. The group with participation views the service it has built as having characteristics denied by the official system and view advocacy as a possible alternative focus for forming new social representations.

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