The thought of municipal managers about the ombudsman as a potential tool of participatory management of the SUS

ABSTRACT The study, of qualitative approach, aimed, from the discourse of municipal health managers, to identify potential for the community participation in the management of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), as well as understand how these managers use the ombudsman for decision-making. Were interviewed 12 managers, from four regions of the Country, with subsequents transcription and speech analysis. Understanding participation as constitutional right, the ombudsmen of the SUS have key role in the management, because they stimulate the individual participation of the user and, in counterpart, enable the manager to know the opinion of the population regarding the actions and health services offered in the municipality.