Actions for health advocacy and user empowerment by nurses o the Family Health Strategy

Objective: To understand the actions for health advocacy and user empowerment developed by nurses of the Family Health Strategy in Brazil. Method: A qualitative study carried out with nurses working in the Family Health Strategy in a city in the South of Brazil. Participants were selected by non-probabilistic, snowball sampling. Data was collected from a semi-structured interview guide, recorded, transcribed and analyzed through discursive textual analysis. Results: Fifteen (15) nurses participated in the study. Three categories emerged: user participation; health environments; health advocacy actions related to the multiprofessional team. Conclusion: The closer relationship that the Family Health Strategy enables between the multiprofessional team, users and the community promotes health advocacy practices, while user empowerment favors autonomy in health care, encouraging a healthier life and enabling them to intervene in the health decisions of the local community.