[Problems with the concept of health regarding patients' beliefs]

To expand the understanding of health, an analysis of definitions by Horta (1979), by the VIII National Health Conference (1986) and by the World Health Organization (1946) was done. Similar elements of what was defined by Foucault as "pastoral power" were identified. Through Canguilhen and Dejours health definitions some subsidies are presented to allow a better understanding of health as a person's own subject, giving alternatives that will make possible a rupture on the "pastoral power".