Programa Saúde na Escola : conhecimento, participação e avaliação de professores de escolas públicas do ensino fundamental

Abstract

The School Health Program is a strategy of integration and permanent articulation between education and health policies and actions. It is very important that the health promotion work that will be developed is evaluated from the perspective of those involved. The purpose of this study was to verify the knowledge of a group of elementary school teachers about the program. The study included 15 elementary school teachers from public schools, that work with the School Health Program in Belo Horizonte, southeastern region of Brazil. Considering the principles of the qualitative approach, the semi-structured interview was used as data construction technique. The speeches were transcribed and analyzed by thematic content analysis. Three thematical groups have been studied: knowledge about the program, school practice, its problems and challenges. The present study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. The teachers demonstrated limited knowledge about the program, defining it superficially and behaving apathetically about it. They presented a simplistic overview about the program and a tendency of attributing the responsibility about it to the health agent. The interviewees approved the program and highlighted the importance of schoolchildren´s health care. They described the program as a referral’s route to the basic health unit. They agreed to emphasize the relevance of the partnership between Education and Health. However, they lay emphasis on an absence of intersectoral interaction as well as the return of information from the health team to the School. Most of the interviewees affirmed that they did not participate in training activities on the School Health Program, but were interested in participating in them. Regarding program practice at school, they said that health´s content are taught in class. However, they did not recognize this work as part of the program. The speeches showed a concern about parental involvement with the program. It was concluded that the knowledge and involvement of teachers with the School Health Program showed to be less than expected for its strengthening. The absence of training activities about the program, as well as the need for greater integration between health professionals, education professionals and family members represent important obstacles to be overcomed by the managers responsible for the success of the program.