WASTE MANAGEMENT IN HEALTH UNITS: EVALUATION OF A MUNICIPAL HEALTH SURVEILLANCE ACTION
Keywords:
Medical Waste, Health Education, EvironmentAbstract
This study aimed to evaluate whether a health intervention of the Health Surveillance (HS), which integrates the municipal system of the city of Santa Maria/RS, contributed to the improvement of the management of Health Service Waste (HSW) generated in the Health Units (HU) of the municipality. This is a near-experimental study, in which the intervention was included in a set of educational actions, of short duration on the Management of Waste Health Services (MWHS) with health professionals from the basic health network of the said municipality. Seventy four percent of the participants of the health training action showed their use of the knowledge acquired, however 76% of them did not pass on the information to their health team. In 52% of the US inspected, the research participant stated that he felt qualified to prepare the Health Waste Management Plan (HWMP); however, after the intervention 24% delivered the HWM. There was a reduction of non-conformities regarding packaging, management of sharp waste and internal storage. However, there was no improvement associated with the health intervention performed in the study (p > 0.05). The research showed a reduction of non-conformities in US, however the intervention had no effect on the improvement of MWHS. Identifying, conditioning and managing the temporary storage of HSW were variables with reduction of non-conformities, however segregation showed an increase in non-compliance. This is attributed to the lack of theoretical and practical knowledge at this stage of the process or the absence of Permanent Health Education (PHE) practices focused on the theme in question.
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