Educación participativa en alimentación y nutrición

Abstract

The Nutrition Education Unit of INTA in its continuous search for methodological strategies for in-service training in formulating participative educational projects, has designed and tested a system which can be applied in the development of human resources in this field. The system included background information in knowledge and formation needs and training; the design and validation of an in-service training program, of teaching materials and finally a short and long-term evaluation. The results of the long-term evaluation detected that the trainees need an additional period of follow-up and supervision. These results came as a result of using indicators of products and effects, including the development of projects, congress presentations and publications. This system has successfully been incorporated to undergraduate and graduate programs in nutrition. It has been also included in the Ministry of Health training programs and in the design of teaching materials for Latinamerican countries. It has been concluded that when the program included follow-up and supervision, the motivation and effectivity of the educational actions carried out by the health professionals increase.