Abstract
Progress in the last decades in the Brazilian Unified Health System, mainly with the implementation of the Family Health Strategy, has resulted in improvements in care to the population and in strengthening of actions to promote physical activity, including the incorporation of Physical Education professional in basic healthcare. Nevertheless, there are challenges to overcome, such as the development of health workers’ education in accordance with the Unified Health System guiding principles. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to evaluate limits and potentialities of educating for the promotion of physical activity in the Family Health Strategy through a community-based participatory research, by constructing an education program with the health teams. The analysis of conversation and speech was applied to the data from three focus groups (two at the beginning and one after the program) and triangulation was used to combine this data with that from field notes and reflective notes written by the researcher and also by an independent observer. Five limits and potentialities were identified for physical activity promotion education: work organization and on-the-job education; the relation of the worker with physical activity; the worker point-of-view about the health-disease process and in regard to counseling about physical activity; lack of care to the health worker and the incidental learning; and the appraisal of key-elements of pedagogical strategy. Findings point to a necessity to improve the work organization and the healthcare offered to the worker themselves, to strengthen education actions to value permanent and inter-professional education and to work the conscience of the workers about practice and promotion of physical activity.
Health education; Motor activity; Paulo Freire’s pedagogy; Family Health Strategy