Health Education as a Transformative Experience: Meanings and Practices Among Older Adults Participating in Community Programs in Bogota

Abstract

Introduction: Health education is often conceptualized from biomedical approaches focused on disease prevention. However, in community settings, alternative meanings emerge that link education with personal transformation, autonomy, well-being, and a sense of purpose. This study explores the conceptions that older adults construct about health education within community-based health promotion programs in Bogot Methods: A qualitative, critical-hermeneutic study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and focus groups in diverse community settings (day centers, hospitals, and district programs). A thematic analysis was performed, grounded in Freire's popular education framework and humanizing pedagogy.
Results: Four macro-themes emerged from the data: (1) Education as knowledge and updating, connected to "keeping up to date," "moving forward," understanding the body, and recognizing healthy habits; (2) Education as transformation, understood as changes in attitudes, awareness, and lifestyle reorientation ("education occurs when information transforms you"); (3) Health education as practices for good living, associated with nutrition, physical activity, self-care, and emotional regulation; and (4) The encounter with others as an educational space, where guided physical activity, group therapies, workshops, and everyday interactions become meaningful learning processes. Conclusions: For older adults, health education goes beyond information transmission and becomes a humanizing, dialogical, and community-based experience that enhances autonomy, self-esteem, and the construction of meaning. These findings highlight the need to rethink health education programs through participatory and transformative approaches that integrate the cultural and lived experience of older adults.