Validation of the theoretical logical model for food and nutritional surveillance in primary care

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the stages in the development and results of the validation of the theoretical logical model for food and nutritional surveillance in primary healthcare (PHC). This was a descriptive and exploratory study that involved 20 specialists in food and nutrition, including researchers, policymakers, health professionals, and users based on a consensus technique in two rounds. Participants classified the structural components needed for food and nutritional surveillance and the respective expected results according to pertinence and relevance. The items were defined as consensus when they reached more than 80% agreement among participants, confirmed by the analysis of the median and interval between the first and third quartiles. The results reflect the validated content of the matrices organized according to four technical components: strategic planning, administrative planning, management and organization of practices, and monitoring and evaluation. The structure and necessary processes for conducting food and nutritional surveillance activities in PHC and the expected short-, medium-, and long-term results were described in the theoretical logical model. The validation of the theory of functioning of the intervention met its objective of increasing the content and construct validity and support the analytical generalization of the case-studies method, a strategy adopted to evaluate the implementation of food and nutritional surveillance in a specified context, in addition to creating a space for dialogue between the theory and its critique by involving different stakeholders in the evaluation, as well as providing a useful management tool.