Enfermagem

DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232014193.01572013

Health education and education in the health system: concepts and implications for public health

Mirian Benites Falkenberg 1
Thais de Paula Lima Mendes 1
Eliane Pedrozo de Moraes 1
Elza Maria de Souza 1

Abstract The scope of this paper is to analyze the key concepts and expressions related to health education and education in the health system and their interfaces in the field of Public Health. Since there are various interpretations among health professionals regarding such terminologies and their variants in daily practice, it is necessary to establish the difference between them. Consequently, an attempt is also made to establish the difference between the variants of the first, such as sanitary education, education for health and popular health education, which represent a series of practices that involve social participation to increase the autonomy of individuals and the community in order to make choices and to pursue a healthy lifestyle. The variants of the second include ongoing education and in-service education, namely the education provided to health professionals to improve their knowledge in the field of health, in order to improve the health care afforded to the population.
Key words Health education, Ongoing education

Resumo O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar os conceitos-chave relativos à Educação em Saúde e Educação na Saúde e suas interfaces no campo da Saúde Coletiva. Embora apresentem diferenças, é frequente na prática dos serviços, a utilização das diversas variantes a elas relacionadas de forma indistinta. Dessa forma busca-se, também, distinguir dentro desses conceitos-chave as variantes da primeira, tais como, educação sanitária, educação e saúde, educação para a saúde e educação popular em saúde que significa um conjunto de práticas de educação para indivíduos e comunidade a fim de aumentar a autonomia das pessoas e da comunidade para que possam fazer escolhas e adotar hábitos saudáveis