Contributions of the local health councils in the consolidation of the family health program of Brazil

The social participation in health has been institutionalized in Brazil based on the creation of councils and conferences of health; The councils are permanent and deliberative courts and they were legally established in municipal, state and national levels. Some municipalities with intent to promote a broader involvement of the people in health and to expand the process of decentralization, created the Local Councils of Health. These councils are formed based on the area of coverage of the Family Health Program and involve professionals of the family health team and users of the program. The goal  of this paper is to analyze the potentialities and contributions of the local health councils as to the consolidation of the Family Health Program. Among the main potentialities of the local health councils stand out: the power of involvement and mobilization of the community in the local health problems; a greater perception and valuation of health and self care; the strengthening of the vinculum between the team and community; the humanization of the attention and care in health; a greater team motivation and increase of the responsibility for the health of the population. Given the results that were found we can say that  the importance of these courts for the consolidation of the Family Health Program is clear and  some actions are recommended with  intent  to strengthen the local health councils: encourage the creation of local health councils in all the teams of the family health; promote the awareness and continued training of  counselors; establish the parity composition of the local councils where half of the components are representatives of users and the other half is formed of health professionals and representatives of the municipal administration;  enable a greater dialogue between the local health council and the health managers.