Summary

Introduction: Continuous training and certification of primary health care professionals support the implementation of brief interventions to address drug use.

Objective: to validate the training materials of the "Universal Treatment Curriculum for Health Professionals" by evaluating knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Method: we worked with 823 professionals (137 from Argentina, 59 from Colombia, 86 from El Salvador, 398 from Mexico and 143 from Uruguay), in terms of the use of short intervention, according to the training modality in which they participated (272 in person, 125 mixed and 426 remote). It was applied: written knowledge assessment, behavioral assessment of attitude skills and a satisfaction questionnaire. A post quasi-experimental design was used, with comparison groups to assess the knowledge, skills, attitudes (through direct observation) and satisfaction of health professionals.

Results: those of written evaluation and direct observation indicate that both the training materials and the pedagogical strategy used increased knowledge, skills and attitudes for the implementation of the brief intervention.

Conclusions: a successful dissemination tool was obtained, based on the contents recommended by international organizations and validated in the field of clinical application of the basic principles of behavior.

Abstract

Introduction: the continuous training and certification of primary healthcare professionals support the implementation of brief interventions to address drug use.

Objective: our objective was to validate the training materials of the "Universal Treatment Curriculum for Health Professionals" by assessing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Method: we worked with 823 health professionals (137 from Argentina, 59 from Colombia, 86 from El Salvador, 398 from Mexico and 143 from Uruguay), regarding the utilization of intervention brief, according to the training of modality in which they participated (272 face-to-face, 125 mixed, and 426 online). We applied a written knowledge evaluation, behavioral assessment of skills - attitudes, and a Satisfaction Questionnaire. A post-quasi-experimental design was used, with comparison groups to assess knowledge, skills, attitudes (through direct observation) and satisfaction of health professionals.

Results: the results of the written evaluation and direct observation indicate that both, the training materials and the pedagogical strategy, increased knowledge, skills, and attitudes for the implementation of brief interventions.

Conclusions: in this way, a successful dissemination tool was obtained, based on the contents recommended by international organizations and validated in the field of clinical application of the basic principles of behavior.