Health promotion practices in primary care groups.
Ivonete Teresinha Schulter Buss Heidemann, Maria Fernanda Baeta Neves Alonso da Costa, Patrícia Madalena Vieira Hermida, Cláudia Cossentino Bruck Marçal, Fabiano Oliveira Antonini, Camilla Costa Cypriano
Author Information
Ivonete Teresinha Schulter Buss Heidemann: 1 Associate Professor of the Department of Nursing and the Nursing Graduate Program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC. ORCID
Maria Fernanda Baeta Neves Alonso da Costa: 2 Adjunct Professor of the Department of Nursing of the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC. Campus Universitário Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, 88040-410, Brazil.
Patrícia Madalena Vieira Hermida: 3 PhD nursing of the Program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC. Campus Universitário Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, 88040-410, Brazil.
Cláudia Cossentino Bruck Marçal: 4 Phd student of the Program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC. Campus Universitário Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, 88040-410, Brazil.
Fabiano Oliveira Antonini: 5 Phd student of the Program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC. Campus Universitário Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, 88040-410, Brazil.
Camilla Costa Cypriano: 6 Master Nursing of the Program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina - UFSC. Campus Universitário Trindade, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, 88040-410, Brazil.
This is a descriptive-exploratory study using a qualitative approach, conducted in ten municipalities in southern Brazil. Data were obtained by talking to 21 nurses from February to November 2012, through semi-structured interviews using questions to probe their health promotion practices. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis focused on health promotion concepts. We identified four themes about health promotion practices of family health nurses in Brazil: a) training of nurses for health promotion practice was weak; b) nurses formed health promotion groups around diseases and life stages; c) nurses formed groups to meet community needs; and d) nurses used health promotion techniques in group work. These family health nurses were somewhat aware of the importance of health promotion, and how to assist the population against various ailments using some health promotion strategies. The main weaknesses were the lack of understanding about health promotion concepts, and the difficulty of understanding the relevance of its practice, probably attributable to limitations in training. We conclude that primary care groups in Brazil's unified health system could do better in applying health promotion concepts in their practice.
