Experience of university extension in collective oral health during the covid-19 pandemic: Challenges and overcoming strategies

Abstract

The University's communication with society is established through university extension actions that enable the sharing, with the external public, of the knowledge developed in the institution and the democratization of access to scientific information. Given the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was necessary to establish new strategies for the continuity of extension actions. Thus, the present study aimed to report an extension experience, in order to describe the strategies adopted to make health education practices viable during the pandemic period. As a result of social distancing, it was decided to develop virtual activities that allowed the continuation of the health education process aimed at the community and the academic training of the extension members. Even in the face of the pandemic, the extension managed to overcome the challenges and maintain the link between the institution and the community.