The path of the State Policy of Integrative and Complementary Practices of Rio Grande do Sul: a narrative of potentialities and resistances

Abstract

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the State Policy for Integrative and Complementary Practices (Pepic/RS) was published in 2013, in the perspective of institutionalizing health practices based on the principle of integrality. This study aimed at investigating the potentialities, resistances and peculiarities involved in the elaboration and publication of Pepic/RS. To understand important aspects of the early stages of the policy cycle, with emphasis on formulation, three managers that participated in the Pepic/RS formulation commission were interviewed. This study was conducted from June to November 2018. The thematic oral history methodology was used and the data were analyzed using the thematic content analysis methodology. Two categories were emphasized: “Pepic/RS: elements of the agenda, formulation and decision-making”, which investigated the Policy path, until its publication and “Pics: potential and resistance to the Policy”, which addressed the incentives and antagonisms for the consolidation of Pics as public policy. It was found that, by taking advantage of the window of opportunity for Pics in Rio Grande do Sul, the movement for the formulation of a state policy was triggered, through the protagonism of actors that joined efforts to institutionalize access to Pics in the context of public health in the state.