Health promotion in metropolis with focus on sustainability and intersectoral action.

Abstract

The complexity of the field of health promotion has challenged researchers and professionals to develop methods of assessment to produce a basis of evidence as to the effectiveness of the policies and actions undertaken.This article addresses the theme of the production of the “Green and Healthy Environments Program - GHEP” (“Programa Ambientes Verdes e Saudáveis – PAVS”) which has been being implanted as a municipal public policy in São Paulo/Brazil since 2009,taking sustentability and intersectorial action as analytical dimensions.The methodological approach adopted was qualitative, ensuring broad interaction between the managers involved in the Program and the researchers. Interviews were held with the key actors selected on the basis of the management positions which they held in the Program up to 2011. From the analytical point of view, aspects were observed which may help in the present understanding of health promotion initiatives and their future prospects.The understanding achieved between the subjects of the GHEP that sustainability depends on the creation of a common vision and on an also shared model of analysis is significant.This investigation indicated that the fact that there exist partnerships and social networks has produced quite positive results for the maintenance of the Program. All these dimensions brought out in the testimonies of those who are constructing the Program challenge us to think of health promotion within the perspective of human development. In this sense, the GHEP is exemplary, and the lessons learned from it may point to ways in which viable solutions for the complex problems experienced in the metropolises may be constructed.