Social participation in cyberspace: the case of Primary Health Care on Twitter amid pandemics

Abstract

The study analyzed Twitter posts about Primary Health Care (PHC) to identify the problems and strengths mentioned by users. It is a qualitative, non-participant observational, and exploratory research, in which 135.855 tweets published between January 2020 and December 2021 were collected and analyzed using Text Mining, a methodological procedure similar to Content Analysis. As a result, four non-exclusive thematic categories were identified from the analyzed corpus: Accessibility and Coverage, Service Delivery, Management and Resources, and SUS Organization (referring to the Brazilian Unified Health System). Five modes of participation in the debate on PHC were also identified: denunciation, sharing of positive experiences, call for action, accountability, and awareness. In the specificity of the pandemic, systematic criticisms were presented related to the four analyzed dimensions. Despite the problems, most of the complaints were not made in a way that explicitly highlighted a problematic SUS, but a real SUS. It is emphasized that cyberspace needs to be properly understood as a locus of investigation, as it is used by people to express their opinions and participate in civic life by evaluating policies and the various components of the health services system.