Language therapy and collective health: perspectives of performance in the public health services

Abstract

This article makes a critical review of the speech and language therapy approach in the public health field, starting from the idea of Collective Health, undestood as a multifaceted area that does not isolate concept of health from that of disease, the individual from the collective and the clinical procedures from the preventive procedures. In this perspective, the speech and language therapist's performance in the public health field must be oriented by an investigation of the characteristics and needs of the population, as well as a critical reflection on the conceptions and policies of public health practiced by the Brazilian Health System.