Human Resources for Health Policies and Power Dynamics: Perspectives of Policy Makers, Professional Associations and of Researchers in Portugal and Brazil

In a globalized and changing world, it is crucial to analyze the dynamics underlying public policies design and implementation vis-à-vis the different interests. This reality is particularly important to know when studying human resources for health policies and health systems, which by nature are complex and facing competing interests, namely of different professions.

Understanding the politics of the utilization of research evidence in relation to human resources for health according to health professional associations representatives, decision-makers and researchers provides insights into the dominant political culture, and in the power dynamics in the Portuguese and Brazilian health care systems. We report on perceptions of these three groups regarding the use, or non-use, of research evidence by policy makers and reasons to do so in designing and implementing HRH policies, particularly understanding the underlying dynamics of the education and management health workers’ policies.

We designed a comparative case study of semi-structured interviews with Portuguese and Brazilian health professional associations representatives, decision-makers and researchers (N=28). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, anonymized and analyzed thematically.

We report on the following: who sets the research agenda? which power dynamics emerges and what facilitates or is an obstacle to the use of evidence in the definition of health policies related to health professions? A discussion on the advantages and challenges of perform country comparative analysis will be integrated.