CARE, CITIZENSHIP, AND HEALTH EDUCATION IN CONTEXTS OF VULNERABILITY
Collective Health. Citizenship. Health Promotion. Health Vulnerability. Health Education.
This dissertation analyzes the relationships among care, citizenship, and health promotion in contexts of social and institutional vulnerability. The research brings together four qualitative studies: a theoretical-reflective essay on academic suffering in graduate education; a theoretical essay that proposes a critical dialogue between Pierre Bourdieu and Paulo Freire on educational inequalities and emancipation; an experience report on the application of the educational technology PREVINIX, associated with an educational booklet, to promote the sexual health of 46 adolescents in public schools in Rio Grande do Norte; and an experience report derived from conversation circles with 18 participants, 15 of whom were living with HIV, in a community-based institution in Ceará. The theoretical frameworks guiding the analyses are Paulo Freire’s contributions on dialogical education, Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of social reproduction and symbolic violence, José Ricardo Ayres’ reflections on care and vulnerability, and Richard Parker’s work on stigma. The results show that academic suffering expresses institutional vulnerabilities and productivism, requiring permanent care policies; the articulation between Bourdieu and Freire reveals the tension between reproduction and transformation within the educational field; the combination of the PREVINIX game and the booklet proved effective in promoting adolescents’ engagement and critical reflection, with 82% of collective decisions converging toward preventive behaviors; and the narratives of people living with HIV point to qualified listening as a fundamental relational technology for confronting stigma and producing humanized care. The final considerations synthesize the convergences among the studies, highlighting that care and education practices guided by dialogue, autonomy, and citizenship constitute powerful pathways for equitable responses to contemporary vulnerabilities in the field of Collective Health.