ABSTRACT
Purpose:
to assess the degree of knowledge of community health workers about speech disorders by means of a survey on the advice they give to patients.
Methods:
a cross-sectional study with Community Health Agents (CHAs) who work in Health Centers (HC) in the Eastern Health District, in the city of Florianópolis, State of Santa Catarina (SC). They answered a questionnaire on sociodemographic features and knowledge about speech disorders. The questionnaire included questions about the advice given to patients in visits for the purpose of health promotion in different life cycles. A descriptive and statistical analysis was performed with the STATA 11.0 software.
Results:
fifty-five CHAs answered the survey; their mean age was 44.56 years. Most of them were women (98.18%) and had finished high school (80%). Among the major health markers of HC, hypertension and diabetes were characterized as chronic non-communicable diseases. The advice given by CHAs on the promotion of maternal and child health showed that they had more knowledge about speech and hearing impaiments in comparison to advice given when promoting the health of children and the elderly.
Conclusion:
the study showed that CHAs have knowledge about speech and hearing impairments, as evidenced by the advice they gave to patients. However, such knowledge can be considered as limited. Considering that CHAs are the main link between the community and the health staff, it is crucial that they gain knowledge about speech and hearing disorders, in order to implement effective procedures for health promotion and disease prevention, thus, providing comprehensive health care.
Keywords:
Community Health Workers; Health Promotion; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences; Chronic Disease; Public Health Surveillance