Biopsychosocial assessment of disability in the Brazilian Social Security Benefit (BPC): asymmetries between the biomedical model and social assessment

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the biopsychosocial assessment of disability in the Continuous Benefit Payment, emphasizing the role of social assessment from the perspective of social determinants. It is an analytical-interpretative study based on a documentary analysis of 200 social assessments conducted at an agency of the National Social Security Institute in Fortaleza, Ceará, between 2024 and 2025. The IRaMuTeQ software was used for the analysis, and the results were grounded in studies of social determinants and human rights. The results show that applicants, as subjects of rights, are embedded in contexts of poverty, low education levels, and structural inequalities, which condition limitations in functionality and social participation. The biopsychosocial assessment, although showing normative advances, demonstrates asymmetries in its operationalization, with a predominance of biomedical logic and undervaluation of socio-environmental factors. Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement the Unified Disability Assessment Model for the BPC (Continuous Cash Benefit), strengthening the factors of social assessment and incorporating social determinants into the analysis from a human rights perspective.