TEACHERS' HEALTH IN THE PANDEMIC: A CASE STUDY WITH HIGHER EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS OF THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARANÁ - COASTAL SECTOR

Abstract

Although the number of research on Teacher Health has grown in recent years, it is necessary to deepen the theme in order to point out necessary improvements for the working conditions and quality of life of teachers. This is especially relevant in the period of remote teaching, since, due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19, teachers started teaching from their homes. Many of these professors found difficulties with the new methodologies that emerged, which generated some health problems, such as increased work stress and anxiety. Therefore, the present study proposed to describe the theme "Teacher Health and Quality of Life at Work", in addition to the perception in relation to the teaching actions developed by the institution where they teach and how remote work affected the physical and emotional conditions of teachers. This study has a descriptive character, because, to obtain the results, interviews were carried out with a sample of five (5) professors from UFPR Litoral and a questionnaire with ten (10) questions was applied. The responses obtained were transcribed for use in the Nvivo software, Release 1.4(4). Through this, the frequency and correlation of words mentioned in the interviews were quantified to generate “clouds” of words. Through the results, it was found that some teachers interviewed had a worsening in terms of mental health due to remote work, and others claimed to be suffering from anxiety and expressed the lack of physical activity as a worsening factor for health, among others cited adversities.