Aplicativo para o descarte de medicamentos: uma questão de educação ambiental

Abstract

Brazil is one of the countries that consume the most medicines and, consequently, is also considered a country where the inappropriate disposal of medicines has an impact on the environment. Many actions are taken to reduce these impacts, however this is still a very worrying topic. In this context, technological innovations have also contributed, such as the development of applications that address the issue, and can also be used as important tools to reduce the harmful effects caused by the irregular disposal of medicines. The research's general objective is to investigate the knowledge about the proper disposal of medicines among students, teachers and employees of a state technical school in the metropolitan region of Recife. This is a research of a qualitative, explanatory and descriptive nature, within the format of action research, where 317 people participated in the study, including students on the Computer Networks course and education professionals from the Governador Eduardo Campos State Technical School. located in the municipality of São Lourenço da Mata. The information was collected from a meeting held in September 2022, in which the School promoted the Technology and Innovation Week, during which the researcher gave a lecture that covered the challenges of post-pandemic companies and the appropriate disposal of medicines. The majority of research participants were male, 60%. Of which, 80% are students and, of these students, 50% take the Computer Networks course. When asked about the common use of medications, 42.6% responded that they use painkillers in their homes. Regarding the disposal of these medicines when they are expired, 88.95% stated that they dispose of them in the common trash in their homes (sinks, tanks, toilets). When asked about their knowledge of the correct disposal of these medicines, 75% of the participants said they were unaware of the correct way and, regarding the places (commercial or health) for this type of disposal, 92.4% of the respondents stated that they were unaware of where to dispose of the medicines. in disuse. In general, the research concluded that there is evidence of the need and urgency of actions related to the proper disposal of medicines. Mainly, considering the relevance of this region where the study was carried out, which presents relevant springs and native Atlantic vegetation. Information that is considered a finding, as when focusing on the irregular disposal of medicines, the relevance of the natural resources available in the region was also highlighted. It is worth highlighting that this study validated the application as a product created from the research. Validation was consolidated through the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C-ODG6DUaWB2ZiTr2NsOiugtSLPFvkuR/view?usp=drive _link. The application works on Android devices, takes up approximately 50 mg of space and accesses Google maps, Google Places API and Google Geocoding API services. The app is aimed at helping the population with information on the disposal of disused and expired medicines, helping to minimize negative impacts on the environment, as well as providing guidance on where to collect these medicines.