Política de assistência social, autonomia e promoção de saúde: uma breve reflexão

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the relationship between Social Assistance and health promotion. For this purpose, we assumed that the guarantee of the development of autonomy, one of the securities of the Social Assistance Policy, can contribute to expand the capacity of choice and the support of social network of individuals and communities. The guarantee of access to socio-welfare benefits, the strengthening of social networks and the incentive to participation of users, in both the control of the policy and the work in their own territories, are elements that can favor the empowerment of the public. In this sense, the offered social work in this policy helps to improve the quality of people’s lives. In the end, the potentialities and ambiguities of this Policy will be addressed, considering the difficulties in delimiting its object, as well as its supposed place of maintenance of the status quo. According with the perspective of some social actors, Social Assistance Policy still has a stigma of compensatory policy.