Ao meu pai, Nelson Trovo, e à minha avó, Conceição Ferreira Martins, falecidos durante a elaboração deste estudo.
Pessoas cujas vidas e exemplos influenciaram minhas escolhas.
Agradecimentos Agradecimentos Agradecimentos AgradecimentosA Deus, por ter me concedido força, foco e discernimento para planejar, executar e concluir este árduo trabalho.
À Profa Dr a Maria Júlia Paes da Silva, pelo privilégio de ser sua orientanda.Por sua coerência, pela seriedade e compromisso com a orientação e acompanhamento no planejamento e condução desta pesquisa. Também por acreditar e investir em mim, respeitando meus limites; por me lapidar e me preparar para assumir desafios como educadora, possibilitando meu amadurecimento como enfermeira, docente e pesquisadora.À minha mãe, Lourdes, que com seu amor incondicional e exemplo de fortaleza e perseverança sempre me inspirou. E a ela também pelo zeloso cuidado com a Aninha e com a minha casa nos momentos em que estive ausente.À Aninha, meu tesouro mais precioso, pelo seu sorriso contagiante, seu abraço fortalecedor e sua presença calorosa em minha vida.Ao Rodrigo, meu querido companheiro de tantas horas, por compreender minhas escolhas e aceitar continuar compartilhando sonhos comigo. The objective of this study was to design, apply, and evaluate the efficacy of a training program in interpersonal communication in palliative care. The program was developed based on a theoretical framework of interpersonal health communication, on the process of dying and on the principles and philosophy of palliative care. The program participants were 303 health professionals from different disciplines, consisting of 11 classes, from 5 institutions, and it was performed from August 2008 to July 2009. The subjects' knowledge and communication skills were evaluated before and immediately after the training program using an evaluation instrument designed exclusively for this study. One year after the educational intervention, interviews were performed with 32 subjects who had completed the program, with the purpose to evaluate if the knowledge and skills they had learned/improved were maintained over time and applied in their daily practice. The qualitative variables were analyzed in groups according to their similarity and expressed according to their frequency, by number and percentage. To analyze the quantitative variables, means and medians were used to summarize the information, and standard deviations, minimum and maximum were used to indicate the variability of the data. To compare the means of subjects from different classes, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric tests were used, with a level of significance at 5%. The subjects' discourses were analyzed according to the content analysis methodology. The data showed that the before participating in the program, subject had superficial theoretical knowledge and only empirical communication strategies. After the educational intervention there was improvement in their knowledge and communication skills in five of the seven evaluated dimen...