Environmental Health Education in a Vertical Slum House
This study is about the environmental health education process with inhabitants living in a vertical slum houses in the center area of São Paulo City, Brazil. It takes part of big social project developed by two Post- Graduation Center: Public Heath and Architecture from São Paulo University. The focus of this study is the social intervention methodology in the process of popular awareness of risks in such hazardous areas. Our goal is to develop a environmental health risk plan to be managed by the slum residents. Our study takes place in an unfinished seven floor building occupied by poor families. This unfinished building was abandoned with seven floor finished by the owners in the end of seventies, after their bankruptcy. After while, theses invading families moved in, they finished the walls inside the building, they shared the space between them and then they installed the electric light and water secretly. This building portrays the reality of poor urban population living under the threats of environmentally hazardous areas. The knowledge of social and cultural implications in risks requires efficient social research process to capture both objective and subjective perspectives. Environmental Health Education process used here was based on Social Work background, skills and ability, in order to build their capacity to recognize the risk in the hazardous areas. In order to organized them as a social group, they exercised their social identity by discussing their social demands. The intervention chosen way in this study was an environmental health plan to be built with the vertical slum inhabitants about their social needs. During the elaborated plan they worked with the meanings of: health, environmental health risk, personal, social and environmental life quality at the slum . Pictures of dangerous place taken by them were one of the employed techniques to work with them about environment risks. Discussion in constructive groups was the other social technique used for identify the risks in the pictures and built up the meanings of quality of life at the slum.Therefore, there is no environmental policy for slums, this will be the first experience in this area.