The transformation of health education in the sense of hearing as care and presence

Abstract

Starting from a reflection about changes of conception on the process ‘health-sickness-care’ in spite of the still very prescriptive, normative and reductionist character of the practice of education and health promotion, presents a qualitative research on characterization of educational practices of health professionals who participated on the training offered by Project ‘Our Children: Windows of Opportunities’, an experience of intervention within primary care/family health that took place at São Paulo city and was dedicated to promote child development by strengthening family care of pregnant women and children under six years old. The method chosen to collect data was the ‘topical life story’, once the object of study is limited to a certain area of expertise of the subjects, in this case, their health education practices. The stories, six in number, were obtained through interviews combining an open and attentive listening to the exploration and deepening of the experiences of the subjects and an attitude survey of policy for the general information and maintenance of the focus of the investigation. The collected material identified seven empirical categories. The category 'openness to listening and presence' is presented and discussed here in detail considering the value of its contribution as a soft technology for building an expanded clinic.