Tecnologia educacional em higienização das mãos com cuidadores: fundamentada no modelo de promoção da saúde de Nola Pender

Abstract

Infections related to health care are an important public health problem. Caregivers and family members are at risk for contracting infections due to repeated exposure to infectious agents combined with poor hand hygiene and inadequate knowledge about the transmission of the disease. Stimulating safe practices in the hospital environment with caregivers is a current challenge for the health sector. The use of an educational technology is fundamental as a facilitator in the caregiver's learning process and improves care. With this, it is intended to analyze the practices of hygiene of the hands of caregivers from the reference of Nola Pender. A community intervention, uncontrolled and mixed methods study, composed of 55 caregivers of patients hospitalized at a university hospital in Fortaleza, CE, from December 2017 to January 2018. For that, interviews, observations and a self-report questionnaire were carried out before and after educational workshops. The data were organized and analyzed through descriptive statistics and inductive and deductive categories derived from the theoretical framework. Results evidenced the following determinants for hand hygiene of the caregivers: habit formation, previous family experiences; and the perceived benefits of infection prevention. On the other hand, the barriers were: the insufficiency of inputs, the lack of knowledge of a specific technique to hygienize the hands and forgetfulness. The selfreported behavior evidenced hand hygiene (HM) after using the bathroom (SD = 5.88 ± 0.63), after having been in a health institution (SD = 5.47 ± 1.35), performed visit to a patient (M = 5.55). The most commonly used product was liquid or bar soap (62.5%), followed by alcohol gel (22.0%). The most important period in hygiene education in the hands was represented by childhood (M = 4.62). The self-efficacy rate for handwashing of caregivers was overestimated relative to that of other publics (M = 5.44). Health professionals (16.0%) should mediate health promotion actions. Previous knowledge comes from the family, school and work environment. The maternal figure is representative in the teaching of hand hygiene practice. The Educational Technology developed in the form of workshops facilitated dialogue on infections and knowledge of the handwashing technique. There was an increase in handwashing practice. It is concluded that involving the caregivers in the practice of hand hygiene has proven to be feasible and should be considered as part of the safety culture in health institutions.