30 YEARS OF EXERCISE GUIDANCE IN VITORIA: A PIONEERING SERVICE IN BODY PRACTICES AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES UNDER THE UNIFIED HEALTH SYSTEM

Abstract

This work analyses the pioneering role played by the Exercise Guidance Service (EGS) in Vitoria, ES, based on its promotion of bodily practices and physical activities (BPPA) in Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS). It is a collective strategy of reflection and writing built by the program’s professionals and managers, and partner researchers linked to the field of Physical Education and Public Health. It evaluates and discusses the main changes faced by the EGS over 30 years. It presents how the program has dialogued with health policies and the literature on physical activity and BPPA over three decades. It identifies EGS’s potential and challenges as a public health program and highlights BPPA’s core role in the SUS. It asserts the importance of coordination and dialogue with other health institutions, policies, programs and practices to improve the services that EGS offers to the population.