Acquiring of knowledge about sexual health by blind people: an action research

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate knowledge about sexual health, with blind people, before and after educational intervention. METHOD: action research conducted with 58 blind people enrolled in a philanthropic educational institution. A form with sociodemographic and knowledge variables about Sexually Transmitted Infections was used. The Chi-square and Fisher tests were performed. RESULTS: men presented higher frequency of alcoholism (p <0.001) and illicit drugs (p = 0.006). It was found that they used a male condom more frequently than women using a female condom (p = 0.003), although they had more knowledge about the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (p = 0.006). Among these infections, Trichomonas vaginalis (52.4%) was more frequent. Knowledge gaps on risk factors and safe sex were identified. After the intervention, an increase in the knowledge about sexual health was detected. CONCLUSION: the educational intervention, in the light of problematizing pedagogy, (re) constructed the knowledge on sexual health, empowering the participants regarding the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Therefore, it is necessary that nurses carry out educational interventions with this clientele, aiming to soften deficits of knowledge about the thematic in screen.