Avaliação do Programa Gente Adolescente e suas contribuições na formação integral dos alunos do ensino fundamental anos finais

Abstract

This study examines and assesses the Gente Adolescente Program as a public policy initiative in education and health in Brazil, with emphasis on the school health modality. It traces the Program’s development and its implications within the broader landscape of public policies related to health education in the country. Implemented on September 21, 2021, the Program serves adolescents aged 10 to 14 and operates through intersectoral actions similar to those of the School Health Program (PSE), offering a range of activities and objectives directed toward Primary Health Care for this population. The investigation focused on students from the 6th to the 9th grades at a public elementary school in Fortaleza, examining strategies for prevention, health promotion, and adolescent care as a means of understanding their impact on students’ overall development. The research adopted an evaluative policy perspective based on the principles of in-depth evaluation. It is characterized as a applied study with a qualitative and exploratory approach. Data collection and analysis were conducted in three stages: administration of a semi-structured questionnaire, interviews combined with field observation, and documentary analysis. The central question guiding this dissertation was to understand the extent to which the Gente Adolescente Program contributes to the integral development of students in the final years of elementary education, considering its objectives, practices, and observable results within the school context. Based on this question, the general objective was to analyze the strategies implemented by the Program, with emphasis on their contributions to students’ comprehensive development and to the promotion of quality of life in the public school system through actions aimed at health prevention and care. The study revealed positive outcomes, including the strengthening of health prevention practices, the enhancement of connections between the school and the community, and the promotion of adolescents’ physical and emotional well-being. These advances, however, remain constrained by structural challenges and insufficient continuous investment. Finally, the research offers a critical analysis of the Program’s contributions to students’ integral development and underscores the need for greater financial, material, and human resources, articulated through intersectoral collaboration, to ensure the continuity and expansion of this public policy in the city of Fortaleza.