THEORETICAL REFLECTION ON HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION IN ORAL HEALTH PROCESSES WITHIN THE UNIFIED HEALTH SYSTEM
Keywords:
quality of health care, nterdisciplinary communication, information and communication technology projects, information technology managementAbstract
Quality in oral health processes transcends the clinical dimension and extends into the realms of public policy and institutional organization within the Unified Health System (SUS). The primary objective of this study is to discuss the relationship between information flows, communication processes, and quality management within the oral health ecosystem, integrating Avedis Donabedian’s quality framework, Information Science, and Jürgen Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action. The study examines the oral health information regime—often characterized by fragmentation and a narrow instrumental rationality—and outlines its potential causes. Challenges such as informational fragmentation are analyzed, proposing the design and incorporation of oral health information tools as a public and dialogic good. It concludes that the institutionalization of horizontal, participatory communication practices can serve as ethical-political tools for consolidating the right to health and strengthening social oversight within the SUS.