Community-based learning and professional training in health in the face of the social demands of South Bahia, Brazil / Aprendizagem de base comunitária e formação profissional em saúde face às exigências sociais do Sul da Bahia, Brasil

The authors report the achievements of a workgroup at south of Bahia, Brazil, which was focused on community-based learning on primary health care considering the social demands of the communities. Parasitology was chosen as a link to approach health students to the reality of neglected diseases and make feasible health promotion and education. While on the one hand, it has improved the quality of information on health in self-care and also the diagnosis of parasitic diseases in children and adults, on the other hand, it has helped health students develop skills and acquire competencies aligned to the principles of government policies. In past consecutive years, the health education strategies reached eight communities (reaching almost 2000 people), revealing higher parasite infestation when compared to similar surveys conducted in Brazil. New approaches on parasitology span the notions of individual and family hygiene and practices in health, with emphasis on prevention, education, and prophylaxis, which are the objectives of programs against neglected diseases. This has strengthened the development of new teaching resources that favored the learning of the biology of parasites frequently found in these communities. The authors suggest that continuing health education activities are the best strategies underlying the mechanisms of collective knowledge and the relations between learning and health promotion.