Adolescent peer group discussion of health and gender: an experience report

Abstract

The objective of this work was to promote reflection on health and gender, involving the academic community of the Federal Institute of Paraná (IFPR,Curitibacampus, Paraná) and adolescents outside the university, by means of peer group education. For this, several actions were carried out from October 2017 to December 2019, divided into two stages. In the first, there was the participation of volunteer students and a scholarship holder, employing conversation circles, education concerning gender and sexuality, and an activity enquiring “What is it to be sexy?”, with IFPR students and teachers. In addition, this first stage involved working with children and young people in situations of social vulnerability, from a non-governmental organization (NGO) inCuritiba, providing guidance on sexually transmitted infections, sexuality, and oral hygiene. In the second stage, the students performed educational game activities concerning oral health, together with adolescents from a state school inCuritiba. During this stage, guidance activities were undertaken by students from technical courses linked to high schools, provided by IFPR, addressing topics such as mononucleosis, syphilis, and human papillomavirus (HPV). As a result, the project participants were able to reflect on health and gender with the communities within and external to IFPR, by means of the creation of a space for dialogue among peers, capable of encouraging the autonomy of adolescents in the educational process and in care of their health. It could also be concluded that during this process, the mediators were able to acquire new knowledge and experience as health educators.