Contemplation and interaction? An intervention in public schools to motivate the concern in hygiene and transmission of diseases

Abstract

Non family health education is controversial by the different family models and is done in a contemplative way, which generates small fixation of concepts or behavioral changes and the child may have flawed personal sanitary concepts. As the school offers only a contemplative view, individual interactive experiences could pinpoint and emphasize these concepts. With this, the Institute of Tropical Medicine of the University of São Paulo and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, with the support of the Pro-Rectory of Extension and Culture of University of São Paulo, we constructed an interactive exhibition for students of public schools of the fundamental cycle, addressing the essential concepts of disease transmission and prevention. An initial contemplative view was offered during the waiting queue, then each individual performs experiments of interpersonal contact, transmission by fomites, variation of agents, and "contamination" is demonstrated by fluorescent lighting. The interaction was presented in 5 public schools, with intense collaboration of the students and teachers, with 1300 students participating in all experiments with more than 70% participation. Events of this type, which raise awareness about hygiene and the transmission and prevention of communicable diseases can be done interactively among students, allowing greater fixation and greater acceptance. The exposition is interactive with active participation of students in essays and revelation of landmark events, such as demonstrating interpersonal contamination at various levels of personal relationship.