The social dimension of health in the extension field: collective projects at stake

Abstract

At the beginning of the writing of this presentation, first of all it seems appropriate to thank those who called us to this adventure of writing and coordinating this meeting space through the experiences put into words of diverse groups of our beloved country and Latin America.
It is interesting to be able to share these productions in the different sections of the magazine, reflecting situations occurred in such a particular context as 2020, a year framed by the pandemic situation, which challenged us in all senses, putting health in the first place as one of the fundamental values of life and for life.
life.
What is health and from where do we answer this question? Perhaps the concept learned from the World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", which was adopted by the International Sanitary Conference in 1946.
in 1946, coming into force in 19481. However, this concept, which is not inclusive, has long been debated and discussed.
Those of us who are coordinating this dossier are part of the health team, and despite our different backgrounds, there are some coincidences, such as what we have learned about the health system. As a reminder, here we will take the words of Cabreara de Para, A. (2010) "the health system of a country must articulate in it all the spaces where an individual can turn to when faced with a health problem".
It is the result of the interaction of social, economic, political and cultural factors throughout history, in close relationship with social values". However, after years of practicing the profession, we position ourselves in the idea of the health field instead of system, this is proposed
by Spinelli, H. (2010) who, when referring to "the concept of field, understands it as the convergence of actors, resources, problems and interests that make up a network of relationships, with relative autonomy, in which the different agents fight for the consolidation, or for the appropriation and predominance of one or more capitals".