U of T program helps Brazilian nurses identify ways to improve primary health care
The Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing is welcoming a delegation of nurses, nursing professors and healthcare officials from Brazil this week to share knowledge about primary health care.
The visit by the high-level delegation is a result of a unique program that U of T’s nursing faculty helped develop for two universities in the Brazilian states of Acre and Mato Grosso do Sul. The faculty, an internationally recognized leader in nursing education and research, designed the course for nurses leading primary healthcare teams.
The course consisted of five modules: program planning and development in the primary health context; collaborative leadership, advocacy and ethics in primary health care nursing; community participation and community-based research in health; evidence-based practice and clinical case studies in the context of primary health care; and consolidation and development of a community of practice.
Among the delegates are two groups of nurses who will present their winning course projects at U of T. Each of the two groups earned the top mark in their class. The group from Mato Grosso do Sul focused on identifying high-risk pregnancies and the group from Acre concentrated on strategies for preventing and managing acute respiratory infections in children.
“I am impressed with the groups’ role in primary health care, and their focus on the social determinants of health and community participation,” said Freida Chavez, director of the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing’s international office.
This week’s visit marks the successful completion of the first nursing collaboration between the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Health Secretariats and the universities in the two states. The collaboration was funded by the Brazil Federal Ministry of Health through the Pan American Health Organization.
The Brazilian delegation will be at U of T until Oct. 29.
Provided by University of Toronto
