THROUGH NEW LENSES: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INTERACTIVE E-BOOK ON ORAL CANCER FOR PRIMARY HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS.
“Mouth Neoplasms”, “Early Detection of Cancer”, “Primary Prevention”, “Access to Primary Care”, “Health Education”, “Educational Technology”.
Oral cancer is a broad designation encompassing a group of malignant tumors affecting the lips and oral cavity structures. In Brazil, this cancer ranks fifth among the most frequent tumors in men, exhibiting high lethality rates primarily due to lack of early diagnosis. Much late diagnosis occurs because basic knowledge about this condition — essential for enabling or facilitating screening and early management — is severely lacking even among healthcare professionals at different educational levels. Beyond oral health professionals, all healthcare workers, particularly those in Primary Health Care (PHC), play a crucial role in developing practices and knowledge that improve population oral health through establishing healthy habits and practices. They must possess a broader perspective on this issue to serve as effective agents against this disease. Given this reality, this study aims to develop an educational technology — an interactive e-book — targeting PHC professionals. This methodological study comprises four stages: planning (diagnostic analysis and instructional planning), production (didactic design, review, and validation), implementation, and evaluation. The proposal incorporates pedagogical resources like flowcharts, quizzes, and hyperlinks to documents and videos, making the material educational, accessible, and technically viable for all educational levels. After development, the material will be evaluated by judges with subject matter and educational technology expertise, and validated by the target audience. The expected outcome is consolidation and application of knowledge built throughout academic training, effectively contributing to combating oral cancer through these professionals' qualified actions.