This research was conducted in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, with a sample of battered women selected from a government shelter called the "Casa Viva Maria". We analyzed data on 110 women staying at the shelter during the previous two years (January 1996-June 1998). The profile of the women was as follows: abused women were young (mean age 29 years), all had low socioeconomic status, 12% were illiterate, 21% were black, 80% reported frequent abuse by their partners, and 18% had returned to violent homes. The researchers visited 34 former lodgers from the shelter and invited them to participate in a series of evaluation workshops. A total of 118 persons, including mothers and children, attended three evaluation meetings. During this process, researchers encouraged participants to express opinions, perceptions, and feelings about their past experience in the shelter and their own concept of violence. Finally, a focal group was organized with the "Viva Maria" staff members. Female workers reported how their job had been helpful for their personal development and had helped change their own lives.
<p><strong>Objetivo</strong> Verificar o impacto de um programa de educação em saúde no conhecimento de idosos sobre doenças cardiovasculares.</p><p>Métodos: Pesquisa qualitativa, com abordagem participativa. A população foi composta por sete idosos que realizaram oito intervenções educativas sobre temas vinculados à saúde cardiovascular. Os dados foram tratados por análise de conteúdo temática.</p><p><strong>Resultados</strong> A análise do conteúdo evidenciou que as intervenções participativas promoveram ampliação dos conhecimentos e que, após as intervenções, os sujeitos se mostraram mais seguros quanto às atitudes preventivas mais adequadas para evitar riscos cardiovasculares. Constatou-se, ainda, que a educação em saúde com abordagem participativa impacta positivamente na formação de sujeitos mais críticos, capacitados a argumentar e fazer escolhas mais saudáveis.</p><p><strong>Conclusão</strong> O estudo evidenciou que a abordagem participativa é uma estratégia eficaz quando se pretende agregar conhecimento significativo para minimizar os riscos à saúde. </p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.