A PESQUISA-AÇÃO COMO DISPOSITIVO DE INTERVENÇÃO EM GRUPO DE PESSOAS IDOSAS.

Based on the premise that the Polifarmácia, Self-medication and indiscriminate use of medicinal plants present as a problem of Collective Health with the elderly population, the present study aims to present reflections about extensionist actions of health education, developed with elderly people who present risks related to such phenomena. This is a quantitative study with a descriptive and exploratory approach, as a result of extension activities carried out in the city of Campina Grande - Paraíba, with 21 elderly people attending a Center for the Elderly Coexistence of this city. It was adopted as a guiding methodology of this extension the Action Research, in order to verify the effect of practical change of the activity in the scenario in question. Thus, in order to build knowledge with the elderly people about the risks that Polypharmacy, Self-medication, and the association of the use of medicines and medicinal plants can bring to health, interventions were made in the form of debates, talk wheels and thematic workshops with artistic resources. To collect data, questionnaires were applied at the beginning of the extension and at the end of the activities, aiming to identify, based on similar questions, possible changes concerning elderly sensitization about extension themes. Regarding the data treatment, the descriptive quantitative analysis (frequency and percentages) of the collected material were used. Based on the questionnaires applied at the beginning of the extension, it was verified that the phenomena of Polypharmacy, Self-medication and association of medicinal plants use with allopathic drugs were identified. At the end of extension activities, 17 of the elderly stated that they knew about the risks of Polifarmácia and, 14 of the 16 who once said that they were medicated without first going through Medical consultation, affirmed that they will not repeat this practice, recognizing the risks that such action can bring to health. Regarding the use of medicinal plants, all the participants said that the ingestion of allopathic medicines with teas cannot occur and of these, 18 stated that before using medicinal plants to treat diseases seek information from health professionals. It was noticed that actions such as those proposed by the present extension provided a space of exchange that happens from the dynamism and interaction of the elderly, contributing significantly to a better knowledge apprehension. It is also emphasized that the Action Research, as an adopted method of this extension, made it possible in a cooperative and/or participatory way, to intervene in the problem identified with the stimulus of individual and collective expression in decision making, which reinforces the elderly autonomy, with regarding to the maintenance of healthy lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]