Conceptions of the health team from the hospital of Curitiba/Paraná about the psycologic practice

Abstract

The psychologist job is currently understood as a way to integrate the medical and social sciences, but its performance in the hospital is steal poorly understood by the health professional working in it. Based in this aspect, the present study aimed to investigate the perception of the healthcare team about the work of psychology in the hospital environment. For this, all health professionals of a charitable hospital in Curitiba/Paraná were asked to answer a questionnaire containing questions that verified their knowledge of the psychologist actuation in general and in the hospital environment, their perceptions of the importance of the psychology actuation in differents areas of the hospital, such as working with the patients, family and/or health team and their perceptions of the needs of the psychology actuation in this environment. Through the data collected, it could be concluded that the participants considered important the psychology actuation at the hospital, although the observed partial knowledge about this performance. Some assignment given to these professionals seem to even carry a risk of confusion with the role of other health professionals (eg.: perceptions that the psychology can prescribe medications, 53%). Few respondents had contact with the psychology in the hospital (64%), and indicated that the contact forms were in the attendance with patients (38%), meetings with the health team (31%), and participation in courses about psychology (30%). Considering the growing number of psychologist in the hospital, contact with this professional shows that is still low. However, the perceptions from the answers about the needs of a psychology to perform group care, with the health team (64%) or with the family (48%), could be considered a step in the direction of expansion of knowledge about the different modalities of care that psychology can be accomplish in hospital.