PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING AND HUMANIZED CARE FOR OLDER ADULTS: AN EXPERIENCE WITH MEDICAL STUDENTS IN A LONG-TERM CARE INSTITUTION IN THE ITAJAÍ VALLEY

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the contributions of Problem-Based Learning (PBL), developed with medical students from a Higher Education Institution in the Itajaí Valley, Santa Catarina, Brazil, through four workshops/interventions carried out in a Long-Term Care Institution for Older Adults, to humanized education and to the promotion of care for institutionalized older adults. As the research pathway, the study sought to discuss PBL as a strategy capable of bringing medical education closer to the concrete demands of aging, to describe the process of diagnosis and planning of the workshops/interventions, to analyze the formative and care-related meanings emerging from the actions, and to reflect on their contributions to the humanization of medical education. This is a qualitative study, configured as an experience report of an analytical-interpretative nature. Participants included 60 medical students, one supervising professor, and 57 older adult residents, aged between 60 and 92 years, with different comorbidities. Data were produced through participant observation, written records, student reports, photographs, reflective narratives, and dialogues with older adults and institutional managers, and were interpreted through comprehensive analysis. The results revealed immediate positive effects in the four workshops/interventions, expressed in enthusiasm, participation, evocation of memories, strengthening of self-esteem, social interaction, subjective expression, and sensory-cognitive stimulation among the older adults. On the educational level, the experience fostered among students the development of qualified listening, empathy, ethical sensitivity, communicative adaptation, and a broader understanding of care. Finally, PBL, when articulated with real care settings, was considered a powerful strategy for strengthening humanized medical education and comprehensive care for institutionalized older adults.