The Child’s Handbook and occupational therapy in Primary Health Care

Abstract

The Child Handbook (CH) is an essential instrument for monitoring child development, a theme present in  the curricula of Occupational Therapy (OT) courses, a  profession that has childhood as an important area of  activity. However, few studies describe the  profession’s actions in primary care for children’s health. This research aims to describe and analyze the  actions and activities of OT students participating in  the ‘Projeto Multicampi Saúde da Criança’ with  mothers and children, based on the CH in the context of primary care. It is a quantitative, descriptive, and  retrospective study, with data extracted from 37 field diaries. The most common actions were  developmental surveillance consultations (27.4%),  guidance (23.6%), health education, and home visits  (12.3% each). Mapping of services, the School Health  Program, therapeutic groups, matrix support, and  team meetings appear to be less expressive. The data  corroborate research that describes actions developed by occupational therapists in primary care  and  indicate that the CH provided an important range of  actions in this context. It is also observed the  importance of the occupational therapist in the  multiprofessional team of attention to children’s  health and the relevance of the ‘Projeto Multicampi Saúde da Criança’ in the formative path of the  student.