Doenças cardiovasculares e consumo de vitamina E: uma proposta de material educativo direcionado às pessoas assistidas pela Rede de Atenção Primária em Saúde

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been gaining prominence as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are many studies to find suitable methods for preventing, promoting, and treating these diseases. From this perspective, some scientific findings have shown the beneficial effects of vitamin E in reducing cardiovascular risk. Therefore, this study aimed to develop educational material on the importance of dietary intake of vitamin E and the occurrence of CVD to be directed to people assisted by the SUS's Primary Health Care (PHC). It is a technical work, and an educational booklet was elaborated, in six methodological stages: (1) bibliographic survey on the subject of CVD, vitamin E, the Brazil Department of Health actions, and strategies aimed at coping with CVD and food and nutrition education in the PHC; (2) preliminary characterization of health users in the municipality of Natal, with data from the BRAZUCA-Natal 2019 study, to know the target population of the booklet; (3) grouping of information; (4) survey of culinary recipes that included food sources of vitamin E and regional foods; (5) selection of images and graphic design of the educational booklet, using the Canva for Education platform, finalized in PDF (Portable Document Format); (6) writing the text of the booklet. These last two stages were guided by the concern with the form of written communication and strategies that favor better understanding by the reader in an accessible way, even if the reader does not have a degree of visual impairment and use of sans serif fonts. As a result, a booklet entitled “Knowing Cardiovascular Diseases and their relationship with Vitamin E” was developed. The booklet presents content on: What are vitamins?; Vitamin E; Benefits and scope in food; What are cardiovascular diseases?; Cardiovascular diseases and Vitamin E and Culinary proposals with some regional foods and sources of vitamin E. We hope this technical work will be a collaborative consultation instrument for nutritional assistance in the SUS's PHC and to contribute to the prevention and promotion of health about CVD.