Resumen

RAMIREZ SANCHEZ, NOHORA AYDÉE; DIAZ MURILLO, MARÍA DEL PILAR; REYES HARKER, PATRICIA  y  CUECA GONZALEZ, ORLANDO. PLAY-BASED EDUCATION: AN OPTION IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN HEALTH. MONITORING OF RURAL COLOMBIAN EXPERIENCE ON GEOHELMINTHIASIS. rev.fac.med [online]. 2011, vol.19, n.1, pp.23-36. ISSN 0121-5256.

Soil-transmitted helminths are a public health problem in developing countries, especially in school and preschool children. Their control is based on the integration of various strategies such as health education, which alone has proven to be highly cost-effective. This paper describes a qualitative applied study with an ethnographic design, a critical approach, and community participation. The study objective was to develop and track a play-based and environmental learning experience, aimed to prevent and control soil-transmitted helminths in "La Virgen" (Departamento de Cundinamarca, Colombia). The track was based on three elements: number of participants in recreational activities, acceptance of these activities, and difficulties in their implementation. Purposive sampling was performed through which teachers, and students aged 8 to 15, were selected mainly from 4 educational institutions. The techniques used were interviews, participant observation, field notes, and other instruments that allow the monitoring of each activity. The validity of the methodology was described by the triangulation of data. Recreational activities were accepted by school teachers and parents. The objectives of the games and other fun activities were easily understood by the children and other participants. Teachers, students, parents and community leaders also became involved in the process. The teachers, especially the toy librarians, were encouraged to attend recreational activities and promote their future employment in their classes. These instructors also requested additional health training workshops from the researchers. Effective collaboration between the participants from La Virgen and the researchers from la Universidad Nacional produced new materials and recreational activities in health education (such as billboards, songs, and a health festival). This educational experience corroborates the findings of previous studies, which indicate that simply presenting information does not necessarily ensure that it will be internalized by the subjects. Play-based education optimizes learning, while encouraging participation and creativity. In addition, it allows for the easy identification of environmental problems felt by the population, and the development of preventative activities related to both basic sanitation (e.g. lack of sewerage) and health education. These aspects of the project have the ability to improve participants' quality of life.

Palabras clave : environmental education; play-based education; community participation; helminthiasis; school children.

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