eLearning for Health in Brazil - UNA-SUS in Numbers
Abstract
Use of technology enabled learning for distance education in the health field is growing, and new challenges are emerging related to reaching health professionals working in remote areas. The Open University of the Unified Health System (UNA-SUS) promotes Continuing Professional Development and uses Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) for distance education to theBrazilian health workforce, mainly in primary care. Methods: As part of ongoing quality assurance assessments, we performed a descriptive analysis of courses, learners, and completion rates from all enrolments in UNA-SUS for Qualification and Specialisation Courses. Data were collected directly from the UNA-SUS information system. Results: From March 2008 to October 2015 (91 months), UNA-SUS had 206,834 enrolments in 40 Specialisation Courses and 60 Qualification Courses, reaching 119,109 professionals (mean - 1.7 courses per person). These were distributed amongst 5,199 Brazilian municipalities, 59% of which had a population of 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants. Learners were mainly women (80.6%), nurses (26.4%), and working in primary care (39.8%). Completion rates were 67.3% for Specialisation Courses and 37.9% for Qualification Courses, which were self-instructional. Reaching 93% of all Brazilian cities and 119,109 learners, UNA-SUS was able to deliver health education to health professionals (physicians, nurses, and others) in rural and other areas of shortage such as indigenous districts and metropolitan outskirts. UNA-SUS has succeeded in expanding ten-fold the seats for Specialisation Courses for family health, and has good results in TEL Qualification Courses. UNA-SUS has innovated Continuing Professional Development for health professionals in Brazil. These courses responded to the previously unattended educational needs of the workforce, focusing on reaching primary care professionals in smaller towns and remote areas. UNA-SUS is consolidating itself as a nationwide provider of continuing education.
References
Campos FE de, Haddad AE, Oliveira VA, Aguiar RAT. O desafio dos processos e do mercado de trabalho na APS - formação e qualificação. In: Memórias da Saúde da Família no Brasil. Brasília, DF: Editora do Ministério da Saúde. 2010;125–132. Available at: http://189.28.128.100/dab/docs/publicacoes/geral/livro_15.pdf accessed 15 October 2015.
Gusmão CMG de, Siebra S de A, Borba V da R, et al. Relatos do Uso de Tecnologias Educacionais na Educação Permanente de Profissionais da Saúde no Sistema Universidade Aberta do SUS UNA-SUS. Fortaleza/CE: Editora UFPE. (2014). Available at: http://www.unasus.gov.br/content/livro-virtual-relatos-do-uso-de-tecnologias-educacionais-na-educacao-permanente-de accessed 15 October 2015.
Portal do Departamento de Atenção Básica. Available at: http://dab.saude.gov.br/portaldab/historico_cobertura_sf.php accessed 15 October 2015.
Campos FCC de, Oliveira V de A, Soares S. Centrality of health workers in building a universal and equitable health system. In: Deluca MA, Soucat A, editors. Transforming the Global Health Workforce. New York: New York University Bookstore; 2013;181-197. Available at: https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/31744/2/Chapter%208%20Centrality%20of%20Health%20Workers%20in%20Building%20a%20Universal%20and%20Equitable%20Health%20System%2c%20Francisco%20Eduardo%20Campos%2c%20Vinicius%20de%20Araujo%20Oliveira%2c%20and%20Sonia%20Maria%20Soares.pdf accessed 15 October 2015.
Oliveira VA, Lobo LCG, Campos FE de, Lemos AF, Vianna RF, Savassi LCM. A Universidade Aberta do Sistema Único de Saúde (UNA-SUS): avanços até o momento. In: Gusmao C, Siebra S, Borba V, et al editors. Relatos do Uso de Tecnologias Educacionais na Educação Permanente de Profissionais da Saúde no Sistema Universidade Aberta do SUS. Recife; Editora Universitaria UFPE; 2014;311-328. Available at: http://www.unasus.gov.br/sites/default/files/livro_relatos_una-sus_2014.pdf accessed 15 October 2015.
Brasil - Presidência da República. Decreto no 7508/2011 - Regulamenta a Lei 8080 de 19 de setembro de 1990 7508/2011 Jun 28, 2011. (2011). Available at: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2011-2014/2011/decreto/D7508.htm accessed 15 October 2015.
Ministério da Saúde, Secretaria Executiva, Departamento de Informática do SUS. Bases Territoriais. Municipalities grouped by Health Areas. Database. (2015). Available at: Available at: ftp://ftp.datasus.gov.br/territorio/tabelas/ accessed 15 October 2015.
Universidade Aberta do SUS. Alunos matriculados em cursos do Sistema UNA-SUS por Região de Saúde de atuação. (2015). UNA-SUS em números. Available at: http://unasus.gov.br/page/alunos-matriculados-em-cursos-do-sistema-una-sus-por-regiao-de-saude-de-atuacao accessed 15 October 2015.
Ho AD, Reich J, Nesterko SO, et al. HarvardX and MITx: The first year of open online courses, fall 2012-summer 2013. (2014). Available at: http://educationxpress.mit.edu/journal/harvardx-and-mitx-first-year-of-open-online-courses%E2%80%94fall-2012%E2%80%93summer-2013 accessed 15 October 2015.
Slotnick H. How doctors learn: physicians’ self-directed learning episodes. Acad Med 1999;74(10):1106–1117.
Lobo LCG. Flexibilidade no aprendizado, cursos assíncronos e uma educação para o século XXI. Educação para Milhares. (2014). Available at: http://www.educacaoparamilhares.com.br/2014_09_01_archive.html accessed 15 October 2015.
Machado MH. Pesquisa inédita traça perfil da enfermagem no Brasil. (2015) Fiocruz. Available at: http://portal.fiocruz.br/pt-br/content/pesquisa-inedita-traca-perfil-da-enfermagem-no-brasil accessed 15 October 2015.
Scheffer M, Biancarelli A, Cassenote A. Demografia Médica no Brasil - volume 1 - dados gerais e descrições de desigualdades. São Paulo: Conselho Federal de Medicina. (2011). Available at: http://www.cremesp.org.br/pdfs/demografia_2_dezembro.pdf accessed 15 October 2015.
Copyright (c) 2016 Vinícius de Araújo Oliveira, Leonardo Cançado Monteiro Savassi, Alysson Feliciano Lemos, Francisco Eduardo de Campos
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
