Abstract
Healthcare services from western economies use patient and public participation to promote quality improvement. In Brazil, community participation is a guideline for the public healthcare system. However, community participation is little developed and few efforts are made to improve it. Through a case study, we described and analyze the service improvement process used in SUS primary care units of Florianopolis and the community involvement in this process. Semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals, and community representatives were conducted. Results show that improvements are made in local improvements or in an annual planning process, and the community participation in them is low. The annual planning process have deficiencies in its methodology and conduction. The adoption of co-creative methods can improve community participation on SUS and strengthen its participation policy. These methods can also help better structure improvement processes.