Physical activity promotion in primary health care in Brazil: a counseling model applied to community health workers.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to describe a methodology for training to provide counseling on physical activity among community health workers working within primary healthcare in Brazil.

METHODS

This was an intervention study conducted with 65 community health workers in the Ermelino Matarazzo district in the São Paulo, Brazil (30 in intervention group). The intervention group received a course of 12 hours (with 4 meetings of 3 hours each in 1 month) that aimed to improve their knowledge and be autonomous with regard to promoting physical activity. For data analysis, focus groups and questionnaires on knowledge and perceptions regarding physical activity were used.

RESULTS

The average attendance for the 4 meetings was 29 workers (93% of total). There was an improvement in knowledge on physical activity recommendations in comparison with the control (P = .03), and qualitative results revealed that the professionals appreciated the learned content, valued its application based on knowledge construction and felt secure about promoting physical activity. This was seen through high adherence levels and construction collective of proposal for home visits for physical activity promotion.

CONCLUSION

The training was effective in improving knowledge and attitudes toward counseling on physical activity among community health workers.