Importance of mental health actions in school: perspectives of an extension project in Parintins/Amazonas

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the importance of Mental Health actions in the school environment considering the principles of health-promoting schools, especially from the perspective of health education with a comprehensive focus, the care dimension, and the construction of interactive circles, which are spaces for reception, training and prevention. It is a reflective essay based on a review of scientific literature on the subject, a critical analysis of the process and development of an extension project on Mental Health in a full-time school in Parintins/Amazonas. Health promotion is a perspective that has gained importance in recently in Brazil, especially in the post-pandemic period, with great emphasis on the dimension of Mental Health. The theoretical framework draws from the field of studies in education and health, and dialogues with theoretical frameworks from different areas of study, particularly Critical School Psychology, considering the heterogeneity of scenes, contexts and subjects that make up the school universe. In methodological and epistemological terms, this research adopts a critical, dialogic and interactive perspective as it considers the school to be a space shaped by differences and diversities, contradictions and possibilities. The results highlighted the relevance of promoting mental health actions at school by providing a link between the university and the school. The results also highlight the importance of the voices expressed by the teenagers participating in the extension project.