PERCEPTION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE WORKERS ABOUT PATIENTS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AFTER AN EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION

Introduction.Despite advances in the management of sickle cell disease, gaps still exist in the training of primary health care professionals for monitoring patients with the disease.

Objective. To assess the perception of community health care workers about the care and monitoring of patients with sickle cell disease after an educational intervention.

Method. This exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative study was conducted in Montes Claros, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The intervention involved the educational training of community health care workers from the Family Health Program of the Brazilian Unified Health System. The following discussion topics were covered: assessment of educational workshops, changes observed in the perception of professionals after training, profile of home visits, and access to and provision of basic health care services to individuals with sickle cell disease. The discussions were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were subjected to content analysis and empirically organized into two categories.

Results.Changes in the health care practices of community health workers were observed after the educational intervention. The prioritization of health care services for patients with sickle cell disease and monitoring of clinical warning signs in health care units were observed. Furthermore, changes were observed in the profile of home visits to patients, which were performed using a script provided in the educational intervention.

Conclusion.The educational intervention significantly changed the work process of community health workers with regard to patient monitoring in primary health care.