Self-Care Practices of Professionals on Residency Programs in the State of Paraíba in Brazil and Their Implications for Primary Health Care

Background The aim of this study was to examine the self-care skills of residents and preceptors affiliated to the Family and Community Medicine (FCM) and Multiprofessional Family Health Residency (MFHR) programs in the state of Paraíba - Brazil as well as to investigate the association between self-care and the practices of these professionals in Primary Health Care (PHC). FCM residents are doctors in postgraduate training, while MFHR residents are allied healthcare professionals in postgraduate training. Methods This was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach and a census-type sample of 300 professionals. Data was obtained using an electronic questionnaire applied in the second half of 2023. Descriptive, bivariate (Chi-square and Fisher's exact) and logistic regression analyses were carried out. The grouping variable “self-care” was found to be associated with sociodemographic and work-related variables, physical and mental health conditions and professional practice. Results The majority of participants were female (69.3%), had no partner (53.4%) and no children (75.7%). Half of the professionals (54.0%) had self-care skills, which were associated with the perception of their state of health as very good or excellent. Among the doctors, 36.4% and 7.7% declared that they were overweight and obese respectively, and the prevalence rates were similar for multi-professionals. More doctors said they had a mental disorder (46.9%) than did the multiprofessionals (31.5%) (p = 0.022). Professionals who took care of themselves felt “very motivated” to provide guidance on the subject in the service (p = 0.006); they developed more health education projects (p = 0.042) and had more professional experience in the prevention and management of obesity and chronic diseases (p = 0.026) than those who did not take care of themselves or took care of themselves sporadically. Conclusion Health professionals' self-care skills in their personal lives were associated with their motivation to provide guidance on self-care to the population that they assisted in PHC. Our findings point to the need for actions and policies that encourage self-care among health professionals, given that this could have a positive impact on their areas of work.