Active methodologies for interprofessional education of health care for older adults: perspectives of undergraduates

Abstract

Training of health professionals to make them critical, reflective, and able to transform their realities is a current need, especially for issues related to health care for older adults. Considering the scenario above, this study aimed to describe the perception of academicians in the health area about the use of active methodologies in the education of health care for older adults. This is a qualitative study, conducted with nine undergraduates from the courses of nursing, medicine, and nutrition, of a public university, located in the area of the Legal Amazon, in Brazil, who participated in an optional course named “Attention to health care for older adults: an interprofessional approach.” For data collection, a focus group was created and the resulting data were transcribed and submitted to a content analysis, using the theme category. Based on the reports of students, their statements were categorized into three themes: In the scene, I, the student; Scenario to share, learn, teach, and resignify the other; Freedom to learn. This study showed the perceptions of these students about the use of innovative teaching methodologies, showing that they were protagonists of the teaching and learning process. Our investigation found the perception of students of active teaching strategies is positive, with critical-reflective characteristics, in addition to the development of teamwork competence.