THE USE OF VIDEOCONFERENCES AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL IN COMBATING DENGUE IN THE STATE OF AMAZONAS, BRAZIL

Abstract

Background: Telehealth involves services related to health care, particularly where distance is a critical factor. Its application in primary care in small communities that are distant from urban centers is a priority of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. It is a very important tool in preventing, identifying, and treating diseases like dengue, which is one of the main public health-care concerns in developing countries. Objective: Our goal is to analyze the relevance of telehealth in health education by comparing the results of tests applied to subjects who attended teleconference classes with those who physically attended classroom lessons. Materials and Methods: Fifty high-school seniors from a public school in the municipality of Itacoatiara, located 300km from the capital of the state of Amazonas, were equally divided in two groups. One group attended videoconference classes on prevention and combat of dengue. The other group physically attended classes on the same topic. Tests were applied before and after the presentation and scores were compared in both groups. Results: The videoconference group had a score of 82.8% percent, while the group physically attending classes had a final score of 78.6%, on after-class tests. Conclusion: Telehealth, through videoconferences, is an important and relevant tool in health education and can be used efficiently in the prevention and combating of infectious diseases”.