Community Health Education Project
The major activity of the Community Health Education Project is the Community Health Educators Training Course. The Association of Community Health Educators (AECS) has a contract with the Secretary of Health in Rio de Janeiro to maintain and coordinate the Family Health Program in the poor community of Canal do Anil, Jacarepaguá. The purpose of the Family Health Program is to promote health and prevention of illnesses through education about family planning, childcare, hypertension, diabetes, sexuality, adolescents, drugs, smoking, trash, hygiene etc., including dengue, leprosy and TB.
2008 Report
Community Health Education Project
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The major activity of the Community Health Education Project is the Community Health Educators Training Course. Although the training is open to both men and women, 98% of the participants are women. The Association of Community Health Educators (AECS) has a contract with the Secretary of Health in Rio de Janeiro to maintain and coordinate the Family Health Program in the poor community of Canal do Anil, Jacarepaguá. The purpose of the Family Health Program is to promote health and prevention of illnesses through education about family planning, childcare, hypertension, diabetes, sexuality, adolescents, drugs, smoking, trash, hygiene etc., including dengue, leprosy and TB.
The purpose of the course is to train Community Health Educators for the communities that need them most, to be involved and to provide orientation to other people that do not have access to information about how to prevent illnesses and maintain health. The classes meet once a week, for 90 minutes during 15 to 18 months. The idea is that the experiences and knowledge acquired in the course enable the health educators to teach their families and communities about what they learned. The Community Health Educators visit the homes of the patients and serve as a connection to health professionals (doctors, nurses and aids). The Educators schedule consultations when necessary with health professionals and relate the problems to the families. Another objective of the project is to give support to high risk young people so that they do not join groups that could have a negative influence, for example by encouraging drug use.
The 2008 courses had 65 students. The effect of educating 65 will be multiplied when they return to their communities and educate their families and communities about good health practices. Fifty-two students began courses in March 2009.
The Community Health Educators Training Course is available for those who wish to learn how the body functions, learn elements to prevent illnesses and for those who want to become a part of the multiplying effect through informing and practicing what is learned in the community of Canal do Anil.
Numbers of people being served change constantly as new families enter the program and others leave. By the rules of the Family Health Program, each team (one doctor, one nurse, two aids plus six health educators) attends to 1,000 families. There are currently three teams attending to 3,460 families, approximately 17,300 persons.