This paper analyzes the intervention of Health Community Agents (HCAs) from the Family Health Program, with regard to social demands. Our reference is a region of São Paulo's extended center characterized by the presence of tenement houses, former tenement houses and popular movements for housing. It counts on five HCAs, three of which are social movement leaders. The analyses focused on the dimension of popular education that derives from the participation in social movements, as characterized by the actions of these three militants who are also HCAs. Though participative research, interviews and direct observation, we strove to know whether implementing social policies and programs allowed to produce and consolidate social support nets for those in situation of social vulnerability. We concluded that social policies and programs will only be effective in social nets if they extend their intervention objectives and if look for intersectoral action.
Public policies; Social movements; Popular education; Family Health Program; Social interventions