Conhecimento de acadêmicos da área de saúde sobre pessoas com deficiência

Abstract

Introduction: The perspective of integrality and equity in health care in the Unified Health System (Brazilian SUS) defines that health care for individuals occurs according to their needs (particularities) and is articulated at different levels of complexity of the system. Therefore, people with disabilities are more vulnerable to illness due to the peculiarities of their condition, requiring differentiated health care. Thus, assistance to these people should be based on the assumption that, in addition to the need for spe- cific health care for their condition, these individuals can also be affected by diseases and injuries common to others, requiring services other than those strictly linked to their disability. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of health academics about peo- ple with disabilities. Methods: Study with a quantitative approach. Data collection oc- curred from May to June 2023. The study was conducted at a public university, located in the municipality of Teresina, Piauí. The sample consisted of 207 students, from the first three and the last three semesters of nursing, physiotherapy, and medicine cour- ses. For data collection, an instrument was applied, which addresses the academic characterization and evaluation of knowledge about people with disabilities. It is no- teworthy that the instrument of evaluation of knowledge was built taking as reference the Statute of Person with Disability, the National Health Policy of Persons with Disa- bilities, and the content of a validated educational manual that addresses accessibility and inclusion. The data was organized and stored in a structured database of Microsoft Excel and was subsequently analyzed in the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20,0. For the associations between the variable's level of knowledge and age group, course, and semester, we used the chi-square test, consi- dering statistical analysis as statistically significant when p 0,05. Results: The sample consisted of 207 students, aged between 18 and 34 years, predominantly nursing stu- dents (40,1%) followed by physiotherapy (39,6%), attending the first trimester (65,2%). Regarding academic training, 33,8% experienced the service to PwD in curricular in- ternship fields, but most, 86%, feel little or do not feel qualified to provide health care to the public. Regarding the evaluation of knowledge about PwD, the questions with the highest success rate ranged from 87,43% to 98,55%, corresponding to subjects on the importance of communication in assistance to these public, groups that are not classified as PwD and with the definition of physical/motor PwD. Regarding the classi- fication of the level of knowledge, the majority (69,0%) of the students presented an unsatisfactory level. There was an association between the level of knowledge and undergraduate course (p = 0,14), as well as between the level of knowledge-cement and the semester of the course (p <0,001). Conclusion: It was found that most aca- demics demonstrated unsatisfactory levels of knowledge about people with disabilities. It is perceived the need to offer classes on attendance for particularities in the health of the person with disabilities, as well as, of incentive to the research projects and extension during the graduation on this theme.