A educação popular em saúde e a prática dos agentes de controle das Endemias de Camaragibe: uma ciranda que acaba de começar

• Ano de defesa: 2002
• Autor(a) principal: Oliveira, Maria Verônica Araújo de Santa Cruz
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal da Paraí­ba; BR; Educação; Programa de Pós Graduação em Educação; UFPB
• Palavras-chave em Português: Educação Popular; Saúde Pública-Camaragibe(PE); Endemias-controle; CNPQ::CIENCIAS HUMANAS::EDUCACAO
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/tede/4595

In the midst of important political, epidemiological and managerial changes, new experiences concerning the control of endemic diseases at the municipal level have arisen. The municipality of Camaragibe, Pernambuco, has adopted an integrated strategy for the control of endemic diseases. In addition, it has sought to develop a policy of popular health education. The Endemic Disease Agents (EDAs) have an important role in this process. Popular health education is necessary for the resolution of endemic diseases and in the reorganisation of health services. As such, this study aimed to trace the resistances, difficulties and the possibilities with a policy of continued and institutionalised popular health education in endemic disease control activities, focussing on the educative practices of the EDAs. A qualitative methodology was used, based on a case study, participative observation and semistructured questionnaires. The study showed that the integration of the field teams, the distribution of the EDAs in microareas and specifically the principle of the EDAs demonstrate a significant potential in creating an effective relationship with and improves the working knowledge of the community. As a process of transformation, difficulties in the development of health education activities were found, particularly with regards institutional and managerial attitudes and which therefore encouraged the maintenance of the traditional model. The taylorist managerial model, the work process that depends on production results and the lack of continued health education and follow-up of the agents all contributed towards these difficulties. The health education practices of the EDAs demonstrated tendencies towards the traditional model, however some agents demonstrated considerable transforming potential using practices that were more similar to popular health education. Despite the difficulties that were encountered, popular health education is an important strategy in the construction of a more humanized Unified Health System and is closely associated with the struggle for a better quality of life.