Health education: operative group experience for diabetic elderly people

Objective: to enable the diabetic elderly people to cope with the disease and their limitations through operative groups f health education. Method: this is an experience report regarding the educative activity developed by the team of the university extension project called “Grupos operatives de educação em saúde para idosos diabéticos” aiming the segment assisted by the Nucleo de Atençao ao Idoso da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (NAI/UFPE), carried out from June to July 2011. The group had the participation of twelve elderly people, identified as diabetic ones through consultation to their medical records, who were invited to participate in the educational activity through telephonic contact and posterior individual consultation. Four weekly two-hour meetings were held, and to carry out the activity the following strategy was used: Analysis of demand – survey; Pre-analysis of the group and context problematics – planning; Survey of generating issues and definition of focus – performance and evaluation. Results: the operative group provided the diabetic elderly people with encouragement for playing a leading role and having autonomy, appreciation of knowledge and personal experiences and the questioning of self-care strategies for living with diabetes through participatory and playful teaching methodologies. Conclusion: the practice of health education through operative groups for diabetic elderly people can contribute develop the ability to better cope with the disease through the (re)construction of knowledge on it and the consequent adoption of special self-care behaviors, allowing a higher quality to the additional years of life.Descriptors: health education; elderley; diabetes mellitus.RESUMOObjetivo: capacitar os idosos diabéticos a lidar com a doença e suas limitações por meio de grupos operativos de educação em saúde. Método: trata-se de um relato de experiência quanto à atividade educativa desenvolvida pela equipe do projeto de extensão universitária “Grupos operativos de educação em saúde ...