Themes and approaches of academic production at Social and Human Sciences in Health from 1997 to 2007

摘要

This article is a summary on the intellectual production of Social and Human Science in Health concerned to the Public Health area in Brazil. It includes 498 articles and books reviews, from eight Public Heath journals consulted in the electronic database SciELO. A theoretical and methodological analysis was performed on the main and secondary's themes, the changes in the previous decades, considering also the literature reviews (1997-2007). The themes and its perceptual distributions are: health policies and institutions 32.5% ; health and illness 18.5%; gender and health 16.5%; violence and health 9.0%; old age and aging 4.0%; human resources, health professions and education 7.5%; social studies on sciences production and techniques 7.0% as well as health education and communication 4.0%. The results show an academic production growth; the use of combined theories, approaches and methodologies; the residual interdisciplinary between live science and social science and the guarantee of the disciplinarian's approaches. A multi-institutional research agenda is recommended to refine the investigations on health conditions and social transformations; health policies and services; professional training; knowledge and technologies.