Mídia social Facebook como tecnologia de educação em saúde sexual e reprodutiva de adolescentes escolares

Abstract

Working with adolescents in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health is utterly important, especially in the Family Health Strategy, through technologies involving the individuals and supporting bonding. The use of social media by adolescents is a reality that can be applied for health education. This study aimed to analyze the effects of an educational intervention through Facebook as an educational strategy for sexual and reproductive health in school adolescents. This is an intervention, longitudinal study with quantitative and qualitative approach conducted between March and August 2015 with 96 school adolescents of both sexes, who were in the ninth grade of elementary school or the first year of high-school in two schools (public and private) in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil. For data collection, we used several techniques: registration questionnaires, final assessment, and Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey on the male condom, online interaction records, and capturing images from the Facebook group, as well as participant observation. It took place in four stages: 1. (Re) approximation of the field, dissemination and registration; 2. Applying the KAP pre-test; 3. Educational Intervention on Facebook based on documents, files, and websites of the Ministry of Health; 4. Applying the KAP post-test. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0, and for qualitative content results, we used netnography. The Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal do Ceará approved the study under protocol number 953,343. Results revealed that the educational intervention through Facebook promoted desirable effects, since a statistically significant improvement on knowledge, attitude and practice of male condom use was achieved (p≤0.0001). Adolescents learned about sexual and reproductive health through Facebook, confirming the convenience of this social network to discuss sexual and reproductive health, since they are already regular users of this social media, allowing the (re) signification of knowledge through interaction, dialogue, and experiences exchange, and strengthening the bond between the participants. It was concluded that Facebook represented an effective learning environment in sexual and reproductive health along with school adolescents of Fortaleza, constituting a viable, simple and low complexity activity to be developed in the Family Health Strategy.