Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: JOSE ROBERTO AMORIM

Proposal for an application for a mobile device as a tool to enhance the teaching of leprosy in undergraduate courses in the health area in Brazil

Descriptors: Leprosy; Epidemiology; Endemic.

Leprosy is an ancient disease, infectious and contagious, caused by Mycobacterium leprae, with neural impairment and cutaneous manifestations, whose transmission occurs through contact with multibacilliferous patients, leading to irreversible neural damage, becoming the main cause of preventable disabilities worldwide, with high prevalence rates, still and especially in Brazil. One of the causal factors is the deficient and demotivating teaching, as it happens in health schools in Brazil. This work has the general objective of developing an app for a mobile device, with a focus on teaching leprosy to graduate students in health areas. For its elaboration, the methodological procedures will be divided into stages: Stage 1- Elaboration of updated content on leprosy with a focus on the actions of health professionals; Step 2- Creation of a database with updated content on leprosy in dialogue with the curricular guidelines of graduate courses in the health area; Step 3- Prototype development of the mobile app on leprosy with a focus on the actions of health professionals. At the end of the project, it is expected: 1- The creation/availability of an up-to-date and robust database and information on leprosy, as set out in the thematic axes; 2- An mobile app prototype with potential use in the training of health professionals throughout the national territory; and 3- offering a practical contribution to the global and national strategy to fight leprosy as a public health problem.