Capacitação de profissionais da atenção primária à saúde para educação em Diabetes Mellitus

Competences for self-care and self-control in diabetes mellitus type 2 in primary health care

The purpose of the guidelines of self-care and self-control of type 2 diabetes mellitus proposed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health is to strengthen and qualify users and health care professionals through the integrality and longitudinality of care with this disease. This article aims to present the self-care and self-control of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in objective terms, taking into account the current recommen-dations based on scientific evidence and also from the subjective point of view, that is, emphasizing the aspects related to experience and subjectivity of these people. Next, we present the essential skills for self-care and self-control of users and professionals working in primary health care.

The impact of an intervention to improve diabetes management in primary healthcare professionals' practices in Brazil

AIMS

To evaluate the results of a structured intervention in primary healthcare to improve type 2 diabetes management.

METHODS

The intervention was implemented in 2011-2012 in two cities in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and evaluated in 2013 by interviewing healthcare professionals about their practices in all primary care facilities of these two cities (intervention group), and of two paired control cities (control group). Comparisons between the intervention and control groups were made using standard parametric tests.

RESULTS

The percentage of professionals who measured adherence to treatment, developed educational actions to control high-risk situations or prevent complications, or declared that they "explained" the disease to the patients, was higher in the control group (p<0.05). Multidisciplinary involvement, requests for electrocardiograms and referrals to specialists were also more frequent in the control group (p<0.01). The only differences favoring the intervention group were the higher proportion of nurses (p<0.05) and community health workers (p<0.01) trained for diabetes management and a greater frequency of discussing the cases of diabetic patients at team meetings (p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

These negative results raise questions about the effectiveness of actions aiming to improve diabetes management in primary care, and reinforce the need for careful evaluation of their impact.

[Actions geared to tobacco control: a review of their implementation in Primary Health Care]

This survey examined the status of the implementation of policies for tobacco control in a medium-sized municipality through an assessment of actions recommended by the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP) promoted by Primary Health Care (PHC) units. The coordinator of the local NTCP and professionals from 44 PHC units of Juiz de Fora in the state of Minas Gerais were interviewed, between May and July 2011. It was observed that the actions of treatment and health promotion were being duly executed, the highlight being the training of professionals to implement treatment in PHC. In 40.9%, there is the provision of treatment for smokers, and in 88.6% the actions are concentrated in activities in waiting rooms, groups and individual consultations. Limitations identified are probably not restricted to the municipality, such as inadequate structuring of units, high turnover, the varying degree of involvement of professionals in implementing the service and also the lack of mechanisms to enable them to implement and give continuity to care among their other responsibilities. The major challenge for tobacco control is to conduct intersectoral actions and in primary health care. The results can serve for the formulation of strategic health actions in other parts of the country.

Validity and reliability of a health care service evaluation instrument for tuberculosis

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the validity and reliability of an instrument that evaluates the structure of primary health care units for the treatment of tuberculosis. METHODS This cross-sectional study used simple random sampling and evaluated 1,037 health care professionals from five Brazilian municipalities (Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte; Cabedelo, state of Paraíba; Foz do Iguaçu, state of Parana; Sao José do Rio Preto, state of Sao Paulo, and Uberaba, state of Minas Gerais) in 2011. Structural indicators were identified and validated, considering different methods of organization of the health care system in the municipalities of different population sizes. Each structure represented the organization of health care services and contained the resources available for the execution of health care services: physical resources (equipment, consumables, and facilities); human resources (number and qualification); and resources for maintenance of the existing infrastructure and technology (deemed as the organization of health care services). The statistical analyses used in the validation process included reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS The validation process indicated the retention of five factors, with 85.9% of the total variance explained, internal consistency between 0.6460 and 0.7802, and quality of fit of the confirmatory factor analysis of 0.995 using the goodness-of-fit index. The retained factors comprised five structural indicators: professionals involved in the care of tuberculosis patients, training, access to recording instruments, availability of supplies, and coordination of health care services with other levels of care. Availability of supplies had the best performance and the lowest coefficient of variation among the services evaluated. The indicators of assessment of human resources and coordination with other levels of care had satisfactory performance, but the latter showed the highest coefficient of variation. The performance of the indicators "training" and "access to recording instruments" was inferior to that of other indicators. CONCLUSIONS The instrument showed feasibility of application and potential to assess the structure of primary health care units for the treatment of tuberculosis.

Como os profissionais da atenção primária percebem e desenvolvem a Educação Popular em Saúde?

O objetivo do estudo foi analisar percepções e experiências em Educação em Saúde de 166 profissionais de equipes de Saúde da Família de Contagem (MG, Brasil), que responderam um questionário sobre práticas de Educação em Saúde. Os participantes consideraram aspectos além da finalidade informativa, ao relatar práticas voltadas à qualidade de vida e à formação humana. Todas as categorias profissionais mencionaram uma maior participação em grupos de controle da hipertensão arterial sistêmica e diabetes mellitus. Utilizam a pedagogia de Paulo Freire 4,7% dos entrevistados. Termos que demonstram a intencionalidade política, como “controle social” e “Educação Popular em Saúde” não foram mencionados. Foi constatada a necessidade de processos de educação permanente para os profissionais e implementação da política nacional de Educação Popular em Saúde.

Intervenção educativa para o autocuidado de indíviduos com diabetes mellitus

OBJETIVO: Analisar conhecimentos, atitudes e práticas do autocuidado de indivíduos com Diabetes mellitus (DM) em um serviço especializado de saúde de Belo Horizonte - MG, Brasil. MÉTODOS: Pesquisa do tipo estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa. Os dados foram coletados por meio da realização de grupos focais com participação de 12 indivíduos com DM e que compareceram em três sessões do programa educativo desenvolvido nesse serviço de saúde. RESULTADOS: Os dados, analisados segundo o enfoque da análise temática, possibilitaram a identificação das seguintes categorias: Experiências; Sentimentos; Prática educativa para o autocuidado, associada à alimentação e à atividade física; Barreiras percebidas para a busca de um estilo de vida saudável; e Expectativas. CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados do estudo mostraram a importância da educação e da comunicação em saúde pautadas nas relações dialógicas e na valorização do saber popular, ao reorientarem as práticas educativas para o autocuidado, de forma a estabelecer estratégias de prevenção e controle da doença.