Social-demographic profile, professional training and practices of psychologists in health services in Brasilia, Brazil

Abstract

Background. In Brazil, advances in professional insertion of psychology in health services have been observed, as the greater diversity of services and teams where they work. The study aimed: to characterize the socio-demographic profile and professional training of psychologists working in health services in Brasilia; and to describe the types of services where they work, professional practices and theoretical-methodological frameworks adopted. Methods: A survey design, cross-sectional study. Ninety six health psychologists participated (represents 30% of the health psychologists working in Brasilia), 91.6% women. The age ranges from 24 to 54 years (M=35,5; SD=6,6). The instrument was a self applicable online questionnaire and data analysis included descriptive statistical techniques. The study was approved by a Research Ethics Committee. Findings. Thirty one (32.3%) professionals have lato sensu specialization courses and 34,4% have master's degrees. The majority (88,4%) worked in public health services, contract of 40 hours per week (52.1%). Regarding the type of service, 66,7% work in hospital. On the practices carried out frequently, they cited: individual psychological care (93%), psychological care for family members (69%), educational activities in health (59%) and group intervention with patients (55%). On the theoretical and methodological frameworks adopted, the most frequent were cognitive-behavioral (42.7%) and psychoanalysis (29.2%). Discussion. It was observed that the majority of participants were women, young and had done postgraduate courses. The results indicate the strengthening of health psychology in Brasilia, especially in public health services, but still remains a high concentration of professionals in tertiary care and few professionals in primary care.