Research and intervention in the promotion of health: methodological challenges of researching "with"

This article discusses the broadening of the meaning of intervention as a pathway for research in health promotion and raises theoretical-methodological reflections. Its presupposition is that the set of health promotional practices constitute one of the most intriguing and necessary methodological challenges in a field which seeks, in a critical way, to strengthen the autonomy of the subjects, their participation, the institutionalized movement's value, the processes of subjectivization, and to give meaning to the experiences involved. One important methodological guideline raises the question regarding what type of actions would best address the innumerable challenges of the pedagogical/professional fields and the creation of a collectivity as a catalyst of change. Among recent studies on intervention-research we focused on the theoretical-methodological approach of Institutional Analysis and the writing of research diaries. Finally we consider that methodologies shaped by the principles of inclusion do the following: abandon vertical, self-contained approaches, bring out elements showing the desire to articulate, show the power of action in favor of dialog, highlight that interaction can produce health and that it can activate new forms of constructing health promotion practices.