Judicial Intervention for Health Services: The Vision of Students Entering Health Care Management Undergraduate Programs

Abstract

The Federal Constitution of 1988 guarantees universal and integral health care through the Unified Health System (UHS); however, the execution of these services often requires judicial action. The objective of this study was to describe the knowledge of students who started the undergraduate course in health services management at a public university in the state of Minas Gerais, regarding judicial action for delivery of health services in Brazil. A structured questionnaire was applied involving socio-demographic issues, academic training and knowledge about judicial action for delivery of health services. First and second semester students (n = 62) of the Health Services Management Course participated in the study. The statistical analysis of the data included measures of frequency distribution, central tendency and variability. The majority of the participants were female (67.7%), with an average age of 28.7 (± 10.2) years, held an employment (56.5%) and were enrolled in their first undergraduate program (54.8%). The majority (82.2%) considered popular participation as an effective way to defend the right to health services by the population; however, it also considered judicial action as necessary, constituting a formal strategy for achieving the right of access to health services. In this sense, in-depth discussions on the topic, emphasizing its importance and scope, should be part of the academic training of health services managers in order to reinforce their role, taking into consideration the backdrop of a universal health system with scarce resources and significant increase of judicial health claims.