THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHOD IN HEALTH RESEARCHES IN BRAZIL: AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION

Abstract Phenomenology as an inquiry method reveals itself as a possibility of making the relationship between the health professionals and the users of the health care system closer. This study aims to contribute to the process of philosophical appropriation of this perspective within the researches in this field. The research was conducted with the goal of analyzing the periodical scientific production related to this subject, identifying the phenomena assessed in these studies, the theoretical phenomenological perspectives adopted, as well as the fields of origin of the articles found between 2010 and 2014. The data were collected between December 2014 and February 2015 in the Scientific Electronic Library Online, Virtual Health Library (“Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde”, in Portuguese) and Capes Periodical Portal (“Portal de Periódicos Capes”, in Portuguese) databases. In the 17 selected articles, the prevailing field is nursing, which follows this metho-dology; Alfred Schutz is predominant as a philosophical guide, followed by Heidegger. In 12 of the works, the studied topics were related to women. Most of the studies did not provide reflections about the phenomenological research, focusing on hearing the narratives and on the phenomenal description that is revealed with the use of thematizations. The Brazilian publications are scarce, and, moreover, they do not provide enough guidance for the production of the investigation of the essences.