Returning to Work Safely – IFMSA-Brazil

Name of the activity: Returning to work safely

Country/NMO: IFMSA-Brazil

Program: Communicable Diseases

Contact information: contact [email protected] to get in touch with the Activity Coordinator

Type of the activity: First-time Activity

Category: Education

Focus area: Preventable Diseases

Sustainable Development Goals addressed: 

Problem statement:

Primary care is an important dissemination center for health education for both its employees and the enrolled population. It can establish actions aimed at the working population regarding forms of personal hygiene and prevention, such as the Coronavirus disease. In the case of the territory of the ESF Mathias Neves located in the municipality of Rondonópolis, there was an intense demand from merchant workers, which raised the need to expand knowledge about essential measures for worker safety.

Target groups:

• General population
• Other health professionals

Beneficiaries:

• General population
• Medical students
• Other health professionals

Objectives:

1) To provide 7 medical students with the construction of primary prevention health actions aimed at workers, especially those who work in commerce in the territory ascribed to a Basic Health Unit in Rondonópolis-MT;

2) To carry out continuing education with the unit’s team so that the action extends to more workers, including the health professionals of the UBS;

3) To share knowledge with Community Health Agents (ACS) about the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Collective Protection Equipment (CPE) in the context of the pandemic;

3) To develop strategies that aim to contribute to the prevention of health problems for 65 workers, focused on the local community, especially COVID-19 in the current context of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic and its variants;

4) To develop health education actions with 65 workers from the UBS territory, aiming to encourage the use of personal protective equipment necessary in the current epidemiological context;

Indicators of Success:

1) The participating medical students can contribute to the construction of primary health prevention actions aimed at workers, especially those who work in commerce in the territory attached to a Basic Health Unit in Rondonópolis-MT;

2) The unit’s team can understand the importance of continuing education in health with primary prevention so that the action can be extended to more workers, including health professionals from the UBS;

3) Community Health Agents (CHA) are able to understand the importance of the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Collective Protection Equipment (CPE) in the context of the pandemic;

3) 65 workers from the local community are informed about the prevention of health problems, focusing mainly on COVID-19 in the current context of the pandemic and its variants;

4) 65 workers from the UBS territory are able to understand health education actions, being encouraged to use personal protective equipment in the current epidemiological context

Methodology:

The action was carried out based on two action fronts, that of health education with Community Health Agents (ACS), and within the scope of the active process of education in shops and work environments throughout the territory covered by the ESF. The team of coordinators of the action underwent training on Workers’ Health, through a class given by a professional invited by the Surveillance in Occupational Health (VISATT). In continuing education with the ACS, topics such as knowledge about the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Collective Protection Equipment (EPC) in the context of the pandemic were discussed. During the action in the community, active dissemination of information was carried out, so that the team participating in the action went around the territories to inform about the need to use a mask, gel alcohol and other prevention measures. In addition to the information passed, there was the distribution of informative folders.

Plans for evaluation:

At the end of the interview, a questionnaire was applied, prepared through Google docs, to measure how much local workers were sensitized with the content that was passed. This questionnaire, however, was not printed like the pamphlets, the interviewers performed the questionnaire looking at the questions on their cell phones and marked the answer through Google docs itself. Initially, there were 13 questions, such as: 1) Have you been vaccinated? If yes, which one? 2) Did you take both doses? 3) Have you contracted COVID-19? 4) Did you work during the quarantine? 5) Is your job the main source of income for your household? 

After these questions, information about the action was effectively transmitted, pamphlets were delivered, doubts were resolved, and then another questionnaire was carried out, such as “”1) Do you believe it is still important to wear the mask? “”. The intention with this is to measure which aspects of the interviewees’ beliefs were sensitized through this action.

External collaborations:

The coordination of the medical course and the municipal health secretary were duly informed about the team’s performance in the area covered by the Family Health Strategy (ESF) in question.