Informal caregivers: helping those who help: community nursing intervention project: digital health literacy in the training of informal caregivers – situation diagnosis

The use of information and communication technologies to promote health literacy has become a working tool for health professionals during the pandemic caused by covid-19. Social isolation had a direct impact on involuntary caregivers, by taking more permanent care of their family members. Access to health information was partially restricted to telephone contact or digital means. The accomplishment of this work aims to present the diagnosis of the health situation of the community nursing intervention project, called: Digital Health Literacy in the Training of Indirect Caregivers. The methodology used was health planning, through the application of a data collection instrument, in the time-space from April 14 to June 30, 2021, to 24 informal caregivers of users enrolled in an integrated continuous care team of the Group of Health Centers Lisbon Norte. It was found that caregivers are mostly female, predominantly caring for people over 80 years of age. Half of the respondents are actively working. There is a weaker level of health literacy in the area of health promotion. In a situation where they do not know how to act, they request support from health professionals, and the search for videos is also referred to as a valid source of information. A better knowledge of the population about the accessibility of health information through digital technologies promotes healthy, preventive, and protective lifestyles. Nurses, as a promoter of better health of the population, play a major role in the training of groups and communities, through information and communication technologies.