Assessing the building process of health promotion public policies: the experience of Curitiba

Abstract

Health Promotion interventions have broad attributes, involving the collaboration and participation of different actors and the use of multiple strategies. These characteristics turn complex the methods for measuring the impact regarding the structure, process and results of the interventions. This text explores some conceptual issues and evaluation schemes focused on the intersectoral approach and on the Health Promotion framework, based on the experience of Curitiba. The process evaluation, taken as qualitative assessment of the health promotion initiatives in the city, uncovers the importance of the social participation and intersectoral coordination afforded by the public administration in the delivering of the actions. The commitment of several actors involved in the intersectoral projects appears to be crucial for the sustainability of the public policies on health promotion, pointing towards the development of collaborative networks, in addition to political and legislative bases that allow for the upholding of the interventions.