Health promotion education for children: an intersectoral project

• Main Authors: Larissa Duarte Branco, Ana Laura Salomé, Leonardo Jayme Correia Rocha, Elaine Costa Braga, Debora de Souza Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ubiquity Press 2019-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Integrated Care
• Subjects: health education; children; promotion health; ludic education
• Online Access: https://www.ijic.org/articles/5351

Introduction: Health education is a priority of public health services, in order to improve the quality life of people. For Freire1, an education should be used as an instrument of individual and collective liberation, capable of promoting the autonomy of the people and the social transformation necessary to reach a healthier society. For children, the ludic education aims to educate by playing in their activities since early childhood education.2 Health education has a set of knowledge and practices that are oriented towards prevention and improvement of health. The challenge is to involve the child, their families and teachers in practices of education health that change their minds and behaviors. Change of practice implemented: The educational practices were carried out with 40 children from 3 to 5 years old, their families (40) and professional day care educators (20), planned biweekly for children and monthly for professionals and families. The meetings took place in the nursery, at the time agreed with the institution, and lasted between 60 and 90 min. In the first activity with the children, an affective mapping was carried out with the children related to the different spaces of the unit and the dynamics for surveying the needs. Then we did a survey of possible children's demands to work on future meetings. The themes approached were: eating habits, prevention of domestic accidents, hand washing, oral hygiene, intoxication control, mental health and social values. The objective is to promote the participatory learning of children, families and educators of the school day care center aiming to promotion of health. The target audience are children aged 3 and 5, family members and educators, assisted by school, located in the region of São Marcos, Campinas neighborhood. The period followed was from August 2017 to September 2018. Highlights and Discussions: According to Paulo Freire1, the conception of education as a process involving action-reflection-action, enables people to learn, thus evidencing the need for actions to overcome contradictions. For health education, the term of Paulo Freire, which is the Culture Circle, can be used, since it represents a dynamic space for learning and knowledge exchange.3 Thus bringing the participation of individuals with activities that involve them and creating a space for learning . However, with the children was used play activities because the playful provides a healthy and harmonious development, being an instinctive tendency of the child.4 As sustainability, the project is maintained with undergraduate and postgraduate students and two professors in the areas of Public Health and Pediatrics. It is funded by Unicamp's University Extension Department .  Transferability should happen to project members by disseminating and multiplying the knowledge to other kindergartens and schools. Conclusions: Promoting playful learning includes challenges, theoretical and practical foundation. It is necessary to look at the family's need holistically and thus be able to develop a centered and integral care. Lessons Learned: Health education is essential for acquiring a good quality of life and preventing disease of children, therir families and teachers.