Lian Gong as a Health Promotion Strategy in Primary Care: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the studies that evaluated the performance of Lian Gong in 18 therapies as a health promotion strategy for individuals of different age groups, followed in the Primary Health Care (PHC) services of the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). This is a systematic review study, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses model, from the Lilacs, MedLine, SciElo, PubMed, Virtual Health Library, and Capes Periodicals Portal databases, using the descriptors: PHC, Health Promotion, Complementary therapies, Chinese Traditional Medicine, Lian Gong, Qigong, PHC, and Health Promotion. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25 articles published between 2006 and 2023 in the national and international literature were analyzed. The best evaluated attributes with the practice of Lian Gong in primary care include the improvement of symptoms of pain and depression, while the worst performances found were related to changes in the individuals’ immune systems. Most of the services evaluated were Brazilian and Chinese, applied in Basic Health Units and Family Health Strategies. The services evaluated showed a need to strengthen the components of the structure and process to facilitate the population's access to integrative and complementary practices and obtain better performance of PHC in health promotion.