Socio-environmental Health in primary care: knowledge, training and practice

Abstract

Human exposure to harmful chemical substances and compounds is a global reality that makes health  promotion increasingly necessary for the people and  communities exposed in their area. Considering that  socio-environmental health observes the movement  of pollutants at the environment-health-society  interface, an attempt was made to analyze the  knowledge, training, and practice of primary care  teams in relation to socio-environmental health,  focusing on the reduction of diseases due to exposure and poisoning by these substances. A Likert-type  scale without a central point was used, validated by a  group of 11 specialists and 3 primary care  professionals. Minimal dispersion was ensured by the  application of the survey and the calculation of  Pearson’s linear correction coefficient and reliability  was assessed by the Spearman-Brown’s reliability  coefficient, using the split-half method. The survey  showed that the knowledge dimension was generally  classified as in a safe situation, the training dimension  as in a danger situation, and the practical dimension  as in an alert situation. Training was the only  dimension that required immediate change in the  overall results. Although the knowledge and professional practice dimensions were in a situation of maintenance and improvement, respectively, they are  not acquired in formal educational institutions.