If on one hand the coronavirus pandemic has brought countless challenges and sufferings for society, it has also accelerated some beneficial processes for the population, among them the use of technology in health. Pequeno Príncipe Hospital, aware of the needs of its patients and their families, has advanced in several fronts in this sense. One of these advances is the Telehealth Service, which officially started at the institution on February 12th.

With the support of the Global Health platform, doctors from 13 specialties began to provide remote care to patients of the Public Health System (SUS), with a methodology and practices that guarantee all the necessary safety for this moment. “We start with the part of the population that most needs access to healthcare. It is our responsibility to democratize access to telemedicine, as well as to understand its applications, aiming at patient safety and the integrality of patient care,” reinforces the institution’s technical director, Donizetti Dimer Giamberardino Filho, when explaining the choice for Public Health System patients to start the work.

Between February 12 and April 30, 370 telemedicine consultations were held. In May, the practice of telemedicine started to be offered on a pilot basis also to private patients. And this is one of the subjects of the fourth edition of the Pequeno Príncipe News in 2021, that also presents a report about the cases of violence against children and adolescents assisted at the Pequeno Príncipe.

Every year, the Hospital receives hundreds of children and adolescents who are victims of all types of violence. In 2020, 554 cases were assisted, being sexual violence the predominant one, with 362 children victims, which corresponds to 65.3% of the total number of cases. “These are appalling numbers, which highlight the importance of society being attentive, listening to the pleas for help from these boys and girls, and always reporting, because reporting can save lives,” emphasizes the Pequeno Príncipe’s executive director, Ety Cristina Forte Carneiro.

The third article of Pequeno Príncipe News shows that the coronavirus pandemic has affected a fundamental point in the execution of the educational and cultural actions carried out at the Hospital: the presence. In order to reduce the number of people circulating inside the institution – with the potential of contaminating the patients, their families and collaborators –, the face-to-face activities of education and culture have been temporarily suspended. “But in a moment of fragility like this, bringing art and culture to the Pequeno Príncipe has become even more indispensable. Therefore, we adapted our activities in many ways: videos, printed materials, and podcasts, among other formats, became a way to be together, even with the social distancing,” explains the coordinator of the Education and Culture Department, Cláudio Teixeira.

Click here and read the full-length articles in the fourth edition of the Pequeno Príncipe News in 2021.