Abstract
This article presents and discusses the results of research that discusses the potentiality of the praxis and public/collective health involving professionals and knowledge in the construction of knowledge in health in the school environment. The study was conducted during the 2012 school year in a public school in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the participation of teachers, high school students, and undergraduate interns. The research action methodology involves collective action guided based on the resolution of problems identified from a diagnosis of the situation prepared by the participants. The diagnosis was made through questions made to the teachers and trainees, and an essay directed to students. The results obtained from teachers reveal that public health is understood as a duty of the State in the provision of prevention and health care services. Collective health, meanwhile, is associated with the population's physical, mental, and social well-being. Both professors and trainees, who have participated in interdisciplinary projects, recognize the experience as positive. Students recognized that education is prioritized in relation to the school's physical and sanitary conditions, but identified in such conditions risk factors for learning and, consequently, health and quality of life.
Keywords
Public health; promotion of health; school; quality of life