[Autonomy as a central criterion in the concept of health promotion].
This article presents the central concepts of the multiple case study "Health Promotion in Primary Care" conducted by Nescon-UFMG in 2005. Teams of the Family Health Program developed twelve health promotion experiences in different Brazilian regions. After a conceptual revision and field research, health promotion was defined as the process of improving the health of people independently of any previous disease or injury, helping them to increase control over their health. We also concluded that an increased autonomy, understood as the capacity and possibility of the persons to choose, is the central category and criterion for defining health promotion practices.
Fleury-Teixeira
Paulo
P
Núcleo de Estudos em Saúde Coletiva, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30130-100. paulofleury@medicina.ufmg.br
Vaz
Fernando Antônio Camargo
FA
de Campos
Francisco Carlos Cardoso
FC
Alvares
Juliana
J
Aguiar
Raphael Augusto Teixeira
RA
Oliveira
Vinícius de Araújo
Vde A
D001938:Brazil; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D026684:Personal Autonomy