Objective: describe how music is used in the development of group educational activity in Family Health. Methods: a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study, developed with 10 group coordinators, distributed in five basic care units in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data were collected from March to July, 2009, with non participant observation in the group itself, and semi-structured interviews with the coordinators. Information was organized and categorized according to thematic analysis. To interpret the data, the Snyderian concepts in addition to theoretical references about music, communication and health education were used. Results: three thematic nuclei were found: the affective dimension of music; recreative dimension of music and the reflexive dimension of music. Conclusion: an attempt by the coordinators was observed, to overcome the pathological barriers with the use of music, considering the group as a whole.As advancement for the production of knowledge, this study shows the need for qualification of these coordinators, by means of workshops and constant follow-up of their musical practices. . Teaching leads students to starting with that which they like as the objective of knowing and understanding the production of great masters, with these being guides in the quest for knowledge (7) .In view of the foregoing, the group coordinator needs to be prepared to act in new health education models, assuming new tasks and suiting himself/herself to changes arising from the present health policy in force in the country, whose aim is the integrality of care.It is expected that the coordinator is a communicator capable of arousing the participants' interest by means of strategies that could guarantee that they are kept in the group, considering the cognitive and psychological factors involved in the learning process, which may be achieved through music. Therefore, the presupposition of this study was that music is an advantageous strategy for educational actions, communication vehicle and group integration.Thus, it was sought to contribute towards answering the following question: how have the coordinators communicated with education groups in Family Health, considering music as a teaching-learning strategy?The justification for conducting this study is the consideration that up to now, there are few researches in this area that present non traditional strategies in favor of more participative health education. In spite of the prevalence of groups focused on disease, in practice, there is predominance of communicational practices of information being passed on by the coordinator, centered on the behaviorist and prescriptive discourse (8) , one observes a trend towards the use of pedagogical strategies that point towards creative and participative pathways that deserve to be explored.In view of the foregoing, the aim of this study was to describe how music is used in the development of group educational activity in Family Health.
MethodsThis qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study, was dev...