CHALLENGES IN HOSPITALIZATION TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH OBESITY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial metabolic disease triggered by environmental, cultural, nutritional, genetic and psychosocial aspects, demand for clinical treatment performed by a multidisciplinary technical team. Ensuring care for patients with obesity, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, was fundamental for the surveillance and control of comorbidities and risk reduction in case of contamination. Health services that cared for obese individuals throughout the pandemic period needed to reinvent themselves to keep care in line with measures to combat coronavirus, reduce the risk of contamination and guarantee the necessary clinical support. The present work is a cross-sectional, qualitative, descriptive study, comprised of an experience report arising from the experience of health professionals during the treatment of obesity and its comorbidities, between March 2020 and December 2021. The report considered the observations and challenges in this atypical period of pandemic by the coronavirus. The activities took place in a closed inpatient unit (wards and apartments) of the Hospital da Obesidade, a reference for the care of patients with obesity, located in the city of Camaçari-BA. It is noteworthy that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the scenario of hospitalization for the treatment of morbid obesity was challenging because it was something new with continuous adaptations of care and work flows. During the entire period, the joint and humanized work of each professional was fundamental, who managed to act specifically in each different area, but who talk to each other. During the entire period of this work, even in the midst of so many adversities never experienced before, a daily construction of knowledge and actions was carried out, always focused on humanization and care, promoting multiprofessional assistance based on a welcoming dialogue, active listening and safe technical support.