Difficulties and facilities for notification of sexual partners with sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Objective: to understand the difficulties and facilities of professionals to notify sexual partners with sexually transmitted infections. Methods: qualitative study carried out with 19 professionals from four referral services in sexually transmitted infections. A semistructured interview was conducted and the statements were analyzed through Content Analysis technique. Results: the difficulties identified were: diversity of types of sexual relationships, resistance of the index patient, emphasis on information transmission, ineffective verbal communication, insufficient time and absence of monitoring. The facilities were: respect for patient autonomy, counseling free of judgments, effective verbal communication, motivation and negotiation, written communication, confidential environment, partnership with the multiprofessional team, communication through card to evaluate effectiveness of notification. Conclusion: based on the competencies, communication was identified as a facilitator of empowerment of the index patient in the process of to reveal the infection to the contacts, and weaknesses emerged in the conduct of cases about the knowledge, planning, implementation, partnership and evaluation.

Estratégias de notificação de parceiros sexuais de pessoas com infecções sexualmente transmissíveis: ensaio clínico randomizado

“…In Brazil, although the use of new technological tools to notify partners has been recommended since 2015 (6) , efforts to put them into practice are necessary because of frequent reports of lack of other PR alternatives to be applied by professionals, other than those focused on the need for patients themselves to commit to informing their sexual partners (8)(9) .…”

“…These result from lack of technical training in the STI area and of specific knowledge about handling sexual partners, in combination with insufficient time, lack of clarity regarding the correct way to carry out PR, and lack of institutional support for the management of these cases, especially when new PR modalities are inserted (8)(9) . Consequently, investments involving actions to improve the management process and the infrastructure of the services are urgent to achieve progress in PR, with technical training of health professionals in comprehensive care of people with STIs.…”

“…Structural barriers, deficient counseling, professionals' insufficient knowledge, and lack of minimum training to handle STI cases stand out among the difficulties in implementing PR, in addition to personal barriers resulting from fear of the reaction of partner(s) and the stigma associated with STIs (8)(9)(10) .…”

“…In Brazil, the lack of visibility of PR occurs because of the evident insecurity professionals have in carrying out this strategy, especially as a consequence of lack of the institutional support necessary to work the cases and of details about how this action can be developed by health professionals (8)(9) .…”

“…There is a lack of details in the Brazilian literature about how PR is carried out, especially by using PR cards (8)(9) . These cards were devised to be a more feasible means of reporting, because they cause less embarrassment when compared to verbal reporting.…”