Health promotion: discourses and conceptions in primary health care

Abstract Background Although initially the term health promotion is used to characterize a level of care of preventive medicine, it has been resignifying over time. Objective This study aimed to identify knowledge about the health promotion of health workers in the city of Criciúma - SC. Method This is a descriptive observational study with a qualitative approach, which included 123 professionals from 28 Family Health Strategies and 1 Family Health Support Center and at the Municipal Health Secretary. The thematic analysis of content analyzed the data, divided into three phases and using descriptive statistics, using the software Atlas.ti, with the insertion of documents, excerpts of the speech, codes, grouping by proximity thematic and visualization networks. Results Data generated 137 quotations, 11 codes that were grouped into 4 categories: a preventive model [36,6%], an educational model [29,2%], a positive health model [28,5%] and a model of articulation, participation and social control [5,8]. Conclusion the understanding of health workers about health promotion is predominantly related to the preventive view, mainly related to the prevention of risk factors and diseases.