The satisfaction of the user in health services evaluation: essay on the imposition of problems

Abstract

User satisfaction surveys are currently placed as one of the main strategies for participation, protection and defense of the rights of users of public services,  despite the existence of a set of evidences reported in the international literature more than four decades ago, question the legitimacy of such approaches. The  present essay aims to contribute to the understanding of some neglected aspects of the meaning of user  satisfaction surveys and their results, particularly the  paradox of high satisfaction found as a result of these  surveys. This phenomenon will be analyzed through  an analogy with opinion polls, discussing the  hypothesis that the high satisfaction, described in the  literature, may represent an artifact of research  resulting from a problematic imposition, in the sense  discussed by Bourdieu (1973) and Champagne (1998).  The answers obtained do not necessarily correspond  to social representations or perceptions regarding the services, but to the reactions of the users to the research situation, being characterized as a forced  response to the conditions of the surveys.