A universidade promotora de saúde na visão da comunidade universitária

Abstract

Introduction: Health promotion is an essential strategy to improve the quality of life of the population. Recently, its application in higher education institutions has been discussed worldwide, since these institutions have an environment conducive to interaction between the university community and its surroundings. Therefore, the investigation of institutions that align themselves with the perspective of health-promoting universities is of interest to society as a whole. Objective: The study aimed to analyze the knowledge, strengths, weaknesses, physical environment and health promotion actions of a higher education institution that aims to be a health-promoting university. Methods: The study was of the exploratory descriptive type with a qualitative approach. Focus groups, observational analysis and document analysis were carried out based on scripts developed from the basic concepts and global standards of health-promoting universities. The data collected underwent Bardin's content analysis in four distinct phases: pre-analysis, exploration of the material, treatment of results and interpretation. Results: The university community showed little knowledge about the health-promoting university movement, although it highlighted strengths such as a wooded environment and outdoor areas, and weaknesses such as the physical environment and safety, and other factors reported in a timely manner. It also characterized the physical environment of the institution according to global standards and identified actions carried out by the institution. Final Considerations: The study demonstrated the incipient knowledge about the health-promoting university movement by the university community. In addition, it highlighted strengths and weaknesses of the institution studied and analyzed the physical environment and health promotion actions carried out by the institution. Thus, it highlighted strengths and areas for improvement that can be worked on by the institution as a way of consolidating itself as a health promoter. Contributions to nursing: Improving the knowledge of the university community about the movement, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the institution, the physical environment and health promotion actions are fundamental for improving the professional training of nursing students, in addition to reinforcing the role of nursing in higher education institutions.