Promoção da saúde sexual: desafios no cenário universitário e estratégias para o enfrentamento de comportamentos de risco

Abstract

Health promotion consists of activities aimed at transforming individuals' behavior, focusing on their life habits. Entering a university represents an important rite of passage in young people's lives, potentially associated with vulnerabilities. Among them, STIs continue to represent a public health problem worldwide, directly impacting public health policies for the population. Discussing the inherent characteristics of the young public is relevant, considering that the understanding of their sexual experiences makes it possible to know the consequences of their sexual health and their risk behavior. The objective of this study is to analyze how university students experience their sexual and reproductive practice and propose strategies to promote sexual and reproductive health. Quantitative, field research, with an exploratory descriptive character. Data collection took place from March to May 2022 through the questionnaire Survey of knowledge, attitudes and practices in the Brazilian population, from the Ministry of Health, applied to students online, through the Student Portal of the educational institution higher. Among the 1166 participants, the majority were undergraduates (85.85%) female (n=691), aged between 20 and 24 years (62.18%), white or white (77.87%). Descriptive data were grouped into three categories, namely: sexual behavior and reproductive factors; sexual education as a promotion of care; knowledge about the transmission, cure and treatment of some diseases; and the role of the Health Care Network and Higher Education Institutions in health education. As a tool to disseminate the results of this research, an infographic called “you are the protagonist of your health!” was proposed. It is expected that, with the help of the data and product developed in this study, the students' demands can be accommodated, in a perspective of strengthening the approximation of education with health, envisioning educational actions that can impact the promotion and prevention of the university population.