A utilização da fitoterapia e de plantas medicinais em unidades básicas de saúde nos municípios de Cascavel e Foz do Iguaçu Paraná: a visão dos profissionais de saúde

Abstract

The phytoterapy and the use of medicinal plants are part of practice of the popular medicine, that decreased with industrialization, in the 1940 and 1950s, increasing the search, of population, of therapies less aggressive, in the primary health care. This practice is complementary to the usual treatment used for the poor population. The purpose of this work was analyze the knowledge of the managers and health professionals, which works in the primary attention, about phytoterapy and use of medicinal plants, in the cities of Cascavel and Foz do Iguaçu - Paraná. For this, in the period of February to July of 2009, was done an exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative study, using as research instruments halfstructuralized interviews and a structuralized, auto-applied questionnaire, with closed questions, in order to contemplate the following aspects: profile of the professionals; acceptability of the introduction of the phytoterapy in the basic attention; the trust in the treatments with phytoterapy; related qualification and professional formation to the phytoterapy, among others itens. One of the health managers judged the program of phytoterapy recent. Pointers of satisfaction of the population about the use of the phytoterapy or medicinal plants don t exist. The health manager of Cascavel related interest in the introduction of the program. The other professionals interviewed, related that didn t have received formation about the subject during the graduation, not even inside of the health basic unit where they work. Six (60%) related the access to the information on phytoterapy through the popular knowledge, one (10%) formation in the health basic unit , two (20%) through periodic, four (40%) through media, four (40%) had cited more than one of the options. At Foz do Iguaçu, in the health basic unit where the therapy is implanted the professionals had told that they aren t consulted previously its implantation.The evaluation of the plants used for the patients in this city only occurs through an objective and subjective evaluation of the treatment. For implantation of the phytotherapy in the UBS of these two cities, is necessary qualification of the professionals about the subject, about the cultivation and prescription of the plants, improving the rational use of these medicines.