Pandemic competence development in the context of Primary Health Care: a scoping review

Objective: The objective of this review is to map the training actions carried out with Primary Health Care professionals for the development of professional competence during the pandemic of COVID-19. Introduction: Knowledge and know-how are constantly renewed in the health area and to provide appropriate health care and health professionals need continuous training. However, work-based learning systems present challenges, such as underfunding, and research expenditures. The pandemic of COVID-19, has amplified the training needs of health professionals to act appropriately in their workplaces. The development of this study is justified in view of the need to unveil the training actions carried out to develop competencies for PHC care during the pandemic and to analyze whether these actions are succeeding in developing the necessary competencies for professionals. We also emphasize the need for studies in the field of education for work to consolidate adequate formative strategies for the work field. Inclusion criteria: Population - health professionals in primary health care. Concept - training actions for the development of professional competence. Context - Covid-19. Studies whose title, abstract and text did not answer the problem question were excluded. Methods: The search for articles was conducted in electronic databases: PubMed, Medline, IBECS, LILACS, BDENF, CINAHL, Web of Science. The searches were conducted on December 29, 2022 and were conducted by means of descriptors and their synonyms that appear in the Descriptor in Health Sciences (DeCS) and in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), these being: Education, Continuing; Professional Training; Health Human Resource Training; Health Personnel; Primary Health Care; Community Health Services; COVID-19. Studies published from January 2020 to December 29, 2022 were included. The first selection of publications was by reading titles and abstracts, followed by reading the full article. References were organized using a Microsoft Excel table. The synthesis of the findings will be done descriptively, by means of thematic similarities. As a limitation of the study, only six databases were used for the selection of publications, but those with expressive scientific production were considered. Results (for reviews ONLY): The review is still in progress. The database search identified 918 publications for screening, of which 184 were duplicates. Of the remaining 734 abstracts, 654 were excluded. Of the 80 full texts screened for eligibility, a total of 26 studies were included. Conclusions (for reviews ONLY): The review is still ongoing.