Health promotion strategies in early childhood: weaving local networks

Abstract

Investment in the early years of life is crucial for human development. In this sense, this research aimed to analyze interventions, strategies, and  resources used to carry out health promotion actions  in early childhood, in the light of intersectoriality, in a  territory of Primary Health Care. An exploratory  qualitative research was carried out in the municipality of Apucarana, Paraná, with information obtained from the realization of a Focus Group that had the  participation of nine social actors, linked to the health, education, and social assistance sectors. The research  brought to light the vision of an early childhood  marked by problems related to the increase in social  and clinical demands; the outbreak of ‘psychiatric’  disorders; and the difficulties of the local network to  deal with parents in the construction of parenting and child development. Faced with these adversities, the  research showed strategies, local, intra and  intersectoral initiatives that range from a sequence of  clinical-care practices to playful actions in childcare,  intergenerational groups, and projects to build  gardens and compost. It was found that  intersectoriality emerged as a precursor of comprehensive care, identified as a possible way to  carry out health promotion actions in early childhood.