TRAINING OF COMMUNITY HEALTH AGENTS FOR STRENGHTENING THE SISVAN

Abstract

The Food and Nutritition Surveillance System (SISVAN) aims to detect nutritional risky situations at an early stage through anthropometric assessment and food consumption. Population nutritional diagnosis is adopted as subsidy to elaborate public policies that support food and nutrition surveillance. The Community Health Agent (CHA) is in charge  of the collection of data, which makes anthropometric techniques and diagnosis indicators of nutritional status essential in order to produce reliable information and relevant actions. The goal of this study was to make SISVAN known by and identify the difficulties to obtain anthropometric data and its possible causes. This paper is about an experience of a descriptive, observational, prospective, quantitative and qualitative extension project developed through workshops promoted by Abrinq Foundation (SP) in a partnership with the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT), divided into three meetings, lasting four hours each, with monthly intervals. The participating cities were chosen based on SISVAN data, which showed high rates of chronic malnutrition and overweight in children residing in the region of Jalapão, TO. A total of 29 CHA answered to a questionnaire with open and closed-ended questions about SISVAN, applied in the first and last training. The results showed that 58 % of the CHA were men (n=17) and 41.3 % women (n=12). The majority, 42.8%, assists up to 49 families (n=12); 28.57% assists 100 to 150 families (n=8); 17.85% assists 50 to 99 families (n= 5), and 10.7% assists over 150 families (n=3). Regarding their working conditions, 92.85% (n=26) stated they had a portable digital scale and 80.76% (n=21) had a measuring tape, both of them inadequate to measuring weight and height. When asked about having received training on SISVAN, 71.72% (n=15) said yes, demonstrating fragility in that area, as the CHA who had not received the training were working. The knowledge of the CHA on the SISVAN increased from 6.93% to 20.2% the average of correct answers after the training. In the conceptual question on food and nutritional safety, the average of correct answers increased from 0% to 25%. The conclusion is that the training improved significantly the awareness about SISVAN, and allowed us to identify that CHAs need more often training, sustained support and appropriate and enough equipment to carry out their competences.