A anthropological approach to the evaluation of health programs is presented. A special role is attributed to anthropology which goes beyond its traditional scope as basic research in order to produce, in conjunction with Social Medicine, a particular way of focussing on the evaluation of public policies and, more particularly of health services. Anthropology thus takes its place within a more comprehensive social process to which it contributes with its specific tools for the understanding of reality. Based on empirical research assessment of Primary Health Care in a shanty-town located in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), it shows that the qualitative method for the evaluation of health programs can contribute greatly to overcoming positivistic trends in the evaluation process as wells as to reaching a more comprehensive perspective for the health-disease phenomenon.
Program evaluation; Anthropology; Health policy