Abstract:

This article describes the Multicenter Project experience regarding the improvement of Elderly Health Care, as part of the strategies of the Open University of the Unified Health System (SUS) (UNA-SUS), a Brazilian Network of Universities established by the Health Ministry in 2010, to meet the needs of training and continuing education of health professionals working for SUS. UNA-SUS is a network made up of 35 universities that use Information and Communication Technologies in educational processes and research to help improve the skills of the professionals and managers at SUS, by enabling continuous education of large-scale projects on major themes. This supportive network is also formed by The Federal University of Maranhão, the Federal University of Ceará and Rio de Janeiro State University. Altogether, they establish interagency agreement for sharing knowledge and technology, such as, the development and supply of Graduate Courses and Training in Health Care for the Elderly, which was the background for a set of educational activities, research and community courses. This topic was chosen due to all the extensive data on the aging of the Brazilian population and on the Public Health Policies applied to this population to help them achieve an active and healthy aging. One of the most important actions to ensure the effectiveness of these strategies is the Continuing Education. That is why, these three institutions have jointly developed the Pedagogical Political Project of the course and shared all the production responsibilities, coordination, supply and evaluation. They offer 1,500 vacancies for the Graduate Courses, 500 for the State of Maranhão, 500 for Rio de Janeiro and 500 for the State of Ceará. There are 3,000 vacancies for Training Courses (which requires a High School degree), being 1,000 for the State of Maranhão, 1,000 for Rio de Janeiro and 1,000 for the State of Ceará. All of them will begin in the second term of 2015 nationwide. The Graduate Course was produced and offered as an E-learning course, it was set up using Moodle. There was a total of 420 hours of classes divided into major and minor subjects, which were mentored online, and in-class, using educational materials such as case studies, illustrations, videos, info graphics, simulation procedures, multimedia, virtual presentation, graphics, flipbook, virtual lectures, digital book, and more. The Final Assignment was based on an Intervention Project, to be implemented into the professional/student field with great potential to directly contribute to the development of problem-solving skills. The assignment was presented at the end of the course in poster format. We have implemented an electronic assessment system for each module, with rating scale for Outstanding, Good, Fair and Poor, to evaluate satisfaction by students at the end of each module. The system addressed issues such as content, navigability, mentoring, educational support and resources available on Moodle. The course was well evaluated by professionals / students and obtained about 90% approval rate, as being either Outstanding or Good.

Keywords:

Distance, education.