The School Health Program in the Federal District, Brazil, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

This exploratory descriptive research aims to analyze the implementation of the School Health Program in the Federal District, in the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were produced from February to April 2022 through documentary research and application of an online questionnaire with professionals from the Primary Health Care (PHC) teams within the scope of the Primary Care Qualification Program of the Federal District-QualisAPS. The databases of the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira, the Information System for Primary Care and the QualisAPS Platform were accessed on the actions developed from 2018 to 202, the structuring of the program, and its inclusion in the action plans of family health and oral health teams. Through descriptive statistics and content analysis it was evident an increase in the adhesion of schools to the PSE and a predominance of records related to oral health and vaccine verification, in both periods, with quantitative reduction due the pandemic period. The reality of the Federal District reveals that the interrelation of the Program with PHC and the support of QualisAPS enable a continuous planning process, bringing prospects for strengthening the actions.

KEYWORDS
School health services; Primary Health Care; Health policy; COVID-19