Saúde mental dos professores da educação básica antes e durante o distanciamento social

Abstract

With the onset of social distancing due to COVID-19, numerous challenges emerged around education, causing teachers to adapt to a new reality, with extreme changes in the work environment, lack of resources to teach remote classes, work overload the need to help students on social networks after the end of the day, the excessive use of screens, and in some cases, the difficulty in using digital platforms, conditions associated with possible concerns about job loss and family financial problems. In order to analyze whether the mental health of these teachers was already fragile before social distancing, an integrative review was carried out as the first article, addressing the topic of Mental Health, with the following guiding question: “How is the Mental Health of Education Teachers doing? Basic?”. The search was carried out in February 2023, by two evaluators. Sensitized criteria were adopted using terms taken from the DECs and MeSHs: “Lifestyle”; “Mental Health” and “School Teachers”. The research resulted in 402 publications, with a final sample of nine articles that showed a formal diagnosis that the mental health of Basic Education teachers, both in the public and private sectors, was already fragile before the social distancing caused by COVID 19. A healthy lifestyle can change both physical and mental health. Lifestyle can be defined as a set of habits and customs that are influenced, modified, encouraged or inhibited by the prolonged socialization process, having important implications for health. Lifestyle intervention studies are proving as effective as clinical/drug therapies. Thinking about the class of basic education teachers, aiming at physical and mental health care and considering the important role of these professionals in social transformation, taking into account the aging process, the second article emerged. The purpose of the second article was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention based on eight health pillars (NEW START model: Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest and Trust), on the level of anxiety, depressive symptoms and in the lifestyle of Basic Education teachers entitled “Effects of an Educational Intervention on the Level of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms of Basic Education Teachers”. A quasi-experimental study carried out with 75 Basic Education teachers who work in schools linked to the Municipal Education Department of Uberaba - Minas Gerais, from February to September 2021. A questionnaire (google forms) was applied before and after the intervention educational. The intervention took place online, with monthly meetings where a health pillar was presented each month, with the proposal of cumulative experience, totaling the practice of the eight health pillars in the last month of intervention. Among the 75 participants, the majority were female (96%). There was a predominance of teachers who live with partners. The prevailing income was up to three minimum wages, with more than 10 years of service in the area of education, with the majority of teachers having a postgraduate degree (lato and stricto sensu). A significant difference was found when comparing pre and post intervention for depressive symptoms (p=0.027) and anxiety level (p=0.005). This study allows us to conclude that changes in life habits decrease depressive symptoms and anxiety levels. This information is useful for conducting new research and for providing guidelines for the lifestyle and health of Basic Education teachers.