Abstract

VASCONCELOS, Eymard Mourão; VASCONCELOS, Marcos Oliveira Dias  and  SILVA, Marísia Oliveira da. The contribution of popular education to the reorientation of health practices and policies in Brazil. Revista da FAEEBA: Educação e Contemporaneidade [online]. 2015, vol.24, n.43, pp.89-106. ISSN 0104-7043.  https://doi.org/10.2015/jan.jun.v24n43.008.

This article seeks to analyze the ways in which Popular Education (PE) has contributed to the reorientation of health practices and policies in Brazil. Its aim is to systemize the theoretical reflection that takes place in debates promoted by the Brazilian popular education movement in the health sector. Such debates were initiated in the 1970s, at a time when various community health experiences began to be organized as part of the resistance movement against the military dictatorship, in an attempt to strengthen the organization and critical consciousness of civil society. During this process, many health professionals embraced the practices and theory of PE. These experiences created practical and theoretical references that were of key importance during the reform of Brazil's health care system, a process that was initiated in the 1980s. Following the creation of the Unified Health System, PE began to have a major guiding influence on the activities of many health services as well as, later on, the construction of more participatory forms of management with respect to health policies. There is progressive acknowledgement of the importance of PE in the construction of a more radical integrality in terms of health assistance and promotion that contributes to the fortification of democracy and social justice. As a result, in 2013, the National Policy of Popular Education in Health - (NPEP-UHS) was approved.

Keywords : Popular Education; Health Education; Popular Health Education; Community Health; Primary Health Care.

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