The Importance of Information in the Process of Acquisition and Usage of a Medicine for Patient Safety: A Study of the Brazilian Context

摘要

Considering the importance of oral and visual information on acquisition and use of medication, this paper discusses the outcomes of an analytical study on the cognitive load in performing the task "take a medicine" during a health treatment process (acquisition, usage and disposal of medicine) in Brazil. The task was described in a flowchart according to the steps/actions, decision points and expected outcomes to a successful performance. This allowed finding out the task informational structure during the process of taking a medicine. Then, the cognitive activities in each moment of the process were identified. The outcomes indicate the highest cognitive load occurs in the acquisition of information by patients during a health treatment process, what would affect task performance. The findings ratify the relevance of information on the process of acquisition and usage of medicines by Brazilian patients.