EXTENSION ACTIVITIES IN HEALTH EDUCATION: A REPORT ON STUDENT EXPERIENCES IN THE “SAÚDE EVIDENTE” PROJECT (CLEAR AND ACCESSIBLE HEALTH)

Abstract

Learning doesn’t always come from textbooks. Sometimes, it’s a handshake, a quiet conversation, or an unexpected home visit that truly shapes health education. This experience report shares the journey of students who stepped outside the classroom and into the reality of communities engaged in the “Saúde Evidente” project. What began as an educational initiative became a process of personal and collective transformation. Through meetings at primary care units, community talks, walks in the park, and home visits, bonds were formed, discoveries were made, and lessons emerged that no theoretical content alone could provide. The experience showed that university extension, more than a component of academic training, is a space where empathy becomes action, strategies are shaped by context, and people are recognized as active participants in their own care. This report is an invitation to view health education as a path built together, step by step, with the community.