Scientific and popular health knowledge in the education work of community health agents in Rio de Janeiro shantytowns

Scientific and popular health knowledge in the education work of community health agents in Rio de Janeiro shantytowns

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Publisher: BUKOLA

Authors: Bukola Salami

Publish Year: 2012

Pages: 16

ISBN10: 10-1093

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Health education for socially marginalized populations challenges the efficacy of existing strategies and methods, and the pertinence of the
educational and philosophical principles that
underpin them. The Brazilian Community
Health Agents Initiative (CHAI) hires residents
of deprived marginalized communities to undertake health promotion and education in their
communities. The ultimate goal of the CHAI is
to connect populations with the public healthcare
system by promoting social re-affiliation, protecting civil rights and enhancing equity of
access to health services. In this article, we present the education work of community health
agents through interplay between popular and
scientific health knowledge in nine Rio de
Janeiro shantytowns. A critical ethnographic research design, using thematic analysis, allowed
us to explore agents’ education work to enhance
family health literacy in shantytowns. Local culture and social practices inspire Agents to create
original strategies to reconcile forms of health
knowledge in their work.