Resumo

VARGAS, Andréa Maria Duarte et al. Healthy Schools and the place where I live: environment as a strategy for community empowerment. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2011, vol.47, suppl.2, pp. 50-54. ISSN 1516-0939.

Empowerment is the achievement of the power to become both individual and collective subjects concerning all processes related to both personal and collective development. This is one of the key stages in the formation of a citizen. The school represents an appropriate environment for the development of health promotion programs with greater impacts. Chosen strategies must include the determing factors, in an integrated and non-segmented manner, which are connected to everyday spaces. This present study seeks to evaluate a strategy for community empowerment, adopted by the Healthy Schools Extension Project through the theme of "healthy surroundings. The participative research method was adopted for this study. Since it involves a close association with the solution of a collective problem, this study can also be considered action research. The process took place in three stages: (1) the preliminary study of the area and of the population involved, (2) the critical analysis of priority problems, and (3) the programming and application of an action plan. Some initiatives have been undertaken by the group and some solutions have been implemented. The aim of creating an active community group seems to have been achieved. However, there is no certainty that the developed activities have granted the continuity of the task. The work is slow and frequently, gains and losses have been observed along the way. However, it is most of all, necessary.

Palavras-chave : Health promotion..