Collective Health - Epistemological Area Configuration

Abstract

This research aimed to discuss what collective health is, its object and field of action. For this, an integrative review study was carried out between November and March 2022, guided by the following guiding question: what are the contributions of Public Health to the most diverse spheres of society? To search for articles in the literature, a search was carried out in the following databases: 1. Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences; 2. Capes journal portal. The following descriptors and their combinations in Portuguese were used to search for articles: collective health and fields of action and collective health and the unified health system. From the definitions, criteria and combinations of keywords defined for the study, 5974 publications were located. The final sample consisted of 10 articles. According to the results of the present research, it was possible to verify that at present, it can be ensured that Collective Health has established itself, consolidating a specific and autonomous space, and as such, it coexists in a frequent process of social validation. It is also evident the contributions of Collective Health in multiple spheres of society, however, some studies have highlighted a certain impasse in the insertion into the job market, recommending that the need for interventions to benefit the entry of graduates to the job market remains. It was also noticed that there is no more interdisciplinary scientific field than Collective Health, as individuals and their life context are complex and, for this reason, demand from the health professional a critical-reflexive understanding of the social determination of the process. health-disease.