Introduction: The disabilities caused by leprosy, in addition to being stigmatizing, interfere in the emotional, social, and productive stability of the person affected. For this reason, it must be prevented during treatment and post-discharge, when support for self-care is essential. In this context, it is crucial to use educational technologies that encourage the understanding and incorporation of daily care.
Objective: To highlight the contributions of educational technologies used to promote self-care in people affected by leprosy. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review conducted in December 2022, in the SciELO, Cochrane Library, Embase, Lilacs, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases as well as in the gray literature, in which the Catalogue of Theses and Dissertations of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Capes), ProQuest, and OpenGrey were searched. The eligibility criteria consisted of primary studies with people aged 15 or over affected by leprosy; healthcare professionals who provided guidance on self-care to people affected by leprosy; the use of educational technologies to guide self-care; and the contributions of their use to the improvement of self-care.
Results: In total, five studies were included; all the manuscripts presented interventions via oral communication; there was a significant improvement in adherence to self-care regarding the face, hands, and feet; in addition, there was a minimization of hospital admissions with increased levels of independence when performing activities of daily living.
Conclusion: The educational technologies were significant, as there was an increase in the frequency of self-care practices and in adherence to leprosy treatment.
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a2027-5374, 1657-5997