Implementation of an educational strategy to face cholera in Doctors' Offices

Introduction: cholera is an acute form of diarrhea caused by a bacterium found in water, of rapid spreading in emergency situations; which it is characterized by signs and symptoms of acute evolution and high mortality rates. Objective: to assess the effectiveness of an educational strategy applied to families belonging to the Doctor’s Offices of Pedro Borras Astorga University Polyclinic, Pinar del Rio municipality Method: a descriptive and cross sectional research was conducted in health care systems and services at No-1 and No-2 Doctor’s Offices from October 2014 to June 2015. The target group was comprised of 289 inhabitants assigned to medical students during their stay in Public Health subject, the intentional sample included people older than 15 years old (244), who complied with the requisites for the study. The research was conducted in two stages, an initial one for the identification of knowledge needs about cholera, and a second one to assess the level of knowledge in relation to training. An educational strategy was designed and implemented. Results: the educational intervention program applied enhanced level of knowledge, sense of responsibility and the importance of taking measures, such as: hand washing, drinking water of quality (chlorinated or boiled), cleaning and adequate cooking of foods to control the number of cases in acute diarrheal disease and community-acquired cholera. Conclusions: the educational intervention program contributed to increase risk perception, awareness in relation to cholera, and sense of responsibility regarding the actions taken in the trained group.