The use of Facebook in the health promotion: a literature review about empowerment and popular participation

In consonance with different spheres of the society, the use of social media has made possible new ways of communication and of content sharing in the public health field. This article suggests to think about the use of Facebook related to guidelines and principles found in the PNH - Política Nacional de Humanização (National Policy of Humanization), in the PNPS – Política Nacional de Promoção da Saúde (National Policy of Health Promotion) and in the ParticipaSUS – Política Nacional de Gestão Estratégica e Participativa no SUS (National Policy of Strategic and Participative Management in the SUS), all of them developed by the Health Ministry of Brazil. Also a Facebook’s features description and a literature review have been done. The results show that the subject in the Portuguese language is incipient and how this social media can contribute to the strengthening of popular participation in the public management and to the empowerment of individuals and communities.