Dirce Stein Backes

Residuos de servicios de salud: comprensiones profesores, estudiantes y graduados en salud

This study aimed to explore the perception healthcare sector teachers, students and graduates from two institutions of higher learning in Rio Grande do Sul, on the generation of waste from healthcare services. It used a qualitative research approach, performed with 13 teachers, 18 students and 12 healthcare professionals, who were collected through a focus group. The main results showed there is a perception toward the importance of proper segregation and disposal of Healthcare Service Waste, also there is a lack of concern for the reduction of these wastes. Therefore, the issue requires a broader understanding of the environment, with a view of planetary sustainability, exposing needs to provide the healthcare professionals with knowledge and awareness of the importance of handling these types of waste.

Family (re)organization in the context of Alzheimer's Disease in the elderly: an exploratory and descriptive study

Aims: To understand (re)organization of the family of elderly patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease from the perspective of complexity; to know the perceptions of teachers of health courses that relate to a project to support families/caregivers of Alzheimer patients about the need for family (re)organization; to identify/delineate care strategies that can contribute to the process of family (re)adjustment in coping with the disease. Method: This is an exploratory and descriptive study that uses a qualitative approach. Results: We identify some difficulties, such as unwillingness to accept the disease and the confrontation with the unknown. Among the possibilities, we highlight the discovery of new meanings. Teachers consider Alzheimers as a unique and multidimensional disease, and they suggest strategies such as the interconnection between support networks to assist in family (re)organization and care for the elderly. Conclusion: The disorientation experienced as a result of Alzheimers disease is generated by, and is a generator of, continuous family (re)organization.