Health education developed within the school environment is an important strategy for promoting autonomy, preventing health problems, encouraging healthy habits, and strengthening citizenship. However, for these actions to reach all students, it is necessary to consider the specific needs of persons with disabilities and students with special educational needs, ensuring physical, communicational, pedagogical, informational, and attitudinal accessibility. This study aims to analyze health education strategies directed toward students with disabilities or special educational needs, discussing challenges and possibilities for developing inclusive practices within schools. This is a narrative literature review with a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory approach, based on scientific studies, legislation, and institutional documents related to inclusion, accessibility, special education, health promotion, and the School Health Program. The analysis indicates that communication barriers, inappropriate educational materials, insufficient professional training, prejudice, structural limitations, and weaknesses in coordination between health and education can restrict student participation. Strategies involving accessible resources, assistive technologies, plain language, visual and tactile materials, Brazilian Sign Language, audio description, alternative communication, methodological adaptations, and active student participation can expand the reach of health education initiatives. Coordination among healthcare professionals, teachers, specialized educational services, families, and the school community is also essential. It is concluded that inclusive health education goes beyond allowing students to be present in activities; it requires effective conditions for understanding, participation, autonomy, and the exercise of the right to health.
Contemporary healthcare environments are characterized by the increasing incorporation of technologies, monitoring equipment, warning systems, and multiple sources of information designed to improve safety and responsiveness among healthcare teams. However, when these resources coexist with excessive alarms, high noise levels, frequent interruptions, inadequate lighting, time pressure, and constant task switching, professionals' mental workload may increase significantly. This study aims to analyze, from a cognitive ergonomics perspective, the influence of environmental conditions on mental fatigue, attention, information processing, decision-making, and the occurrence of care-related errors. This is a narrative literature review based on national and international studies addressing ergonomics, human factors, patient safety, nursing, alarm fatigue, occupational noise, lighting, and cognitive workload. Evidence indicates that continuous exposure to excessive and non-actionable alarms may result in desensitization, reduced ability to distinguish priority alerts, and delayed responses, a phenomenon known as alarm fatigue. Simultaneously, environmental noise and inadequate lighting conditions may interfere with concentration, communication, alertness, and performance during prolonged work shifts, particularly in intensive care units, emergency departments, and highly technological environments. It is concluded that patient safety does not depend solely on individual professional competence but also on the ergonomic suitability of work systems and environments. Strategies involving intelligent alarm management, reduction of avoidable noise, appropriate lighting design, workflow organization, reduction of unnecessary interruptions, and incorporation of cognitive ergonomics principles may contribute to reducing mental fatigue and strengthening safety culture within healthcare institutions.
Continuous care for neurodivergent people is a complex experience that extends beyond the demands associated with clinical, educational, and therapeutic follow-up, affecting the emotional, social, economic, and professional dimensions of family life. In this context, mothers and other family caregivers frequently assume prolonged responsibilities involving routine organization, attendance at specialized services, mediation of the assisted person's needs, and coping with social and institutional barriers, circumstances that may contribute to considerable physical and psychological burden. This study aims to analyze the effects of caregiving burden on the mental health of mothers and caregivers of neurodivergent people, discussing factors associated with chronic stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, emotional exhaustion, social isolation, and reduced quality of life, as well as gaps in public policies and support networks. This is a narrative literature review based on scientific publications and institutional and regulatory documents addressing mental health, neurodivergence, family caregiving, disability, and public policies. The analysis indicates that concentrating caregiving responsibilities within families, particularly among women, may have significant consequences for mental health, family relationships, professional participation, economic autonomy, and opportunities for self-care. Although Brazil has advanced in the legal and political recognition of care as a right, particularly through the establishment of the National Care Policy, challenges remain regarding the implementation of accessible, territorial, and intersectoral networks capable of providing continuous support to caregivers themselves. It is concluded that comprehensive care for neurodivergent people should incorporate caregivers' health and well-being as essential components of assistance, strengthening psychological support, social support, family guidance, care services, and shared responsibility among the State, families, and society.
Loneliness is a subjective experience characterized by the perception that social and emotional relationships are quantitatively or qualitatively insufficient. Although it may occur temporarily throughout life, its persistence can result in chronic loneliness, which is associated with significant consequences for mental, physical, and social health. In recent decades, demographic, urban, family, occupational, and technological transformations have changed patterns of coexistence and interpersonal relationships, increasing concern about social disconnection as a public health issue. This article aims to analyze chronic loneliness as a contemporary phenomenon, discussing its main determinants, vulnerable groups, health consequences, and possibilities for prevention and intervention. This is a narrative literature review based on scientific articles and national and international institutional documents. The reviewed evidence demonstrates associations between persistent loneliness and depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular diseases, neuroendocrine changes, inflammatory processes, and increased mortality risk. The literature also shows that loneliness is not restricted to older adults, affecting adolescents, young people, and adults. It is concluded that chronic loneliness should be understood beyond an exclusively individual experience, taking into account its social determinants and relevance to public health. Strategies aimed at promoting social connection, strengthening communities, early identification in Primary Health Care, and integrating health and social policies are essential to address this phenomenon.
The increasing complexity of healthcare requires integration among different professional categories, information sharing, and decision-making processes capable of addressing patients' multiple needs. In this context, interdisciplinary communication is a fundamental element for the functioning of multiprofessional teams and for the safety, continuity, and quality of care. This study aims to analyze the influence of interdisciplinary communication on clinical decision-making, identifying the main challenges faced by multiprofessional teams in healthcare services and discussing strategies capable of strengthening collaborative practices. This is a narrative literature review with a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory approach, based on scientific publications and institutional documents related to interprofessional communication, teamwork, patient safety, and decision-making. The literature indicates that barriers related to professional hierarchy, workload, fragmentation of information, lack of standardized communication protocols, conflicts between professional categories, differences in professional training, and organizational weaknesses may compromise information sharing and interfere with clinical decisions. Conversely, strategies such as multiprofessional meetings, interdisciplinary rounds, structured communication, integrated records, clear definition of responsibilities, interprofessional education, and the strengthening of a collaborative institutional culture promote safer and more patient-centered decisions. It is concluded that interdisciplinary communication is not merely a relational skill but a strategic component of healthcare quality. Strengthening professional integration can contribute to reducing risks, preventing fragmentation of care, and improving clinical decision-making processes across different healthcare settings.
