School Health Program: A Course Analysis

Abstract

This article analyzes the Health at School Program from the Brazilian Ministry of Health and Education through the legislation and guidance materials available on their websites. The study was done in the municipalities of the state of Paraná in order to identify those who had joined the program. To scale the deployment of the latter, an empirical research was held in two municipalities of the state in 2012. Interviews were conducted with program managers through visits to the Health and Education departments of the municipalities. The results showed that the program, despite having suffered from some initial resistance, has been kept functioning by the networks of schools, with the participation of the education and health sectors. The program proved to be an interesting policy to promote sectorial integration towards an implementation of integrated public policies. This program was considered relevant insofar as promoting integration between the health and education sectors leads to significant changes in the relation between both parties. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]