EDITORIAL

The SBFa, for its scientific character, has in its primary annual agenda the organization of the Brazilian Congress. Without a doubt, this is the great annual congregation event of Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, expressing very well the meaning of the verb "to congregate": to get together, to join in congregation.

With the aim to promote a broad scientific exchange between students, professionals, researchers, faculty and managers in the area, the event reunites, every year, around 2,000 people, among students, professionals, researchers, faculty and managers. It has a character of general scope and an important role in professional training and updating.

In its twentieth edition, the theme of the Brazilian Congress of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology was Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology: Science and Profession. The option for this theme evidences the importance of scientific reasoning to professional practice, providing that professionals discuss the repercussions of scientific production to their practice. The union of two themes considers that scientific reasoning produced by the profession must be incorporated to speech-language pathologists' (SLP) practice in different regions of the country.

Ultimately, when these two slopes are not equitable, the users are deprived of the benefits of the knowledge obtained from what is scientifically produced.

Similarly, the congress provided moments to evaluate specific needs of knowledge generation in the areas of Hearing, Dysphagia, Language, Orofacial Motricity, Public Health, Voice, and its interfaces, besides the training needs of Brazilian speech-language pathologists and audiologists (SLP-A). Its aims were to discuss the scientific reasoning of the SLP-A's work integrated to the national health system, to the scientific practice, and to the applicability of such knowledge in the labor market; to promote reflections regarding the role of public health policies that tangent Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; to sensitize politicians and managers about the importance of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology to the health of the Brazilian population; and to promote the visibility of Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology in the political scenery of the country.

With these purposes, the organizing committee opened public consultation to all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Brazil, and had the feedback from over 30 institutions with undergraduate and graduate programs in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, who sent their suggestions of themes and names to compose the scientific program of the congress. This form of construction of the event allowed the program to be in consonance with the needs of professionals/managers, students, faculty, and researchers from all over the country.

In the 20th Congress, the purpose was to discuss the SLP-A's work, integrating scientific improvements aiming its applicability in different sceneries of professional action, especially emphasizing the role of the profession in the current political scenery and in the current public health policy. Discussing these issues at the place of most political importance in Brazil opened a space for reflection about the SLP-A professional integrated to the national healthcare system.

The organizing committee, worried in attending to the demands of Brazilian SLP-As in their different socioeconomic and cultural realities, built a scientific program with 83 thematic discussion sessions, 20 interdepartment symposiums, conferences with mobilizing themes, workshops with content directed towards practice and research, oral presentations, posters, and testimonials from recognized professionals in the area. All included based on the suggestions sent by HEIs from all regions of Brazil.

As in previous administrations, sponsored satellite symposiums and training workshops were offered. The thematic discussion sessions approached fundamental knowledge to each area, and themes regarding teaching in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, providing the attendees with the most current scientific production in each area. The interdepartment symposiums provided an integrated vision of the different areas of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology through debates mediated by renowned professionals, with the aim to discuss this science, its research developments, and the bases for professional practice; the symposiums were widely attended to and with great satisfaction. Moreover, the "Listening the especialist" sessions allowed the attendees to hear professional experiences from recognized professionals from the several areas involved in training and research in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

In this twentieth edition, each department had a specific room where all their scientific activities were centralized during the four days of the event, allowing better planning in the distribution of spaces and organization of access. Moreover, the schedule spaces were equally distributed with activities for all departments.

A fundamental partnership for the construction of the event was with the Federal Council and the council system, responsible for organizing the schedule section named "Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Profession". In a room with this same name, the attendee had the opportunity to get to know the current actions and discussions of our greatest class organ. In this same space, the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Union from many regions in the country debated the work market and reported creation and management experiences, with the participation of an important association from the city where the event was held.

As innovation, in this edition the organizing committee created the space "Enterprising SLP-A". At this space, strategically situated within the exhibition fair, 20 consulting sessions were offered to attendees, so they could watch and discuss about the logistics involved in the assembly and maintenance of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology services in different areas, such as Educational and Corporate Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Dysphagia, and Actions in Health Services. Furthermore, personal and corporate management, and career investment were also themes approached by the partnership of SEBRAE in this space.

And, as a prize for new generations of SLP-As, the Congress in Brasília inaugurated the I Cultural-Scientific Games, a healthy knowledge dispute with the participation of students and professionals, that presented a beautiful congregation party for alumni from different regions of the country.

Like all the scientific community, our greatest efforts are directed towards organizing an event that, besides presenting the strength and quantitative advances of our production, also strives for the qualification of this production. This was and still is our greatest responsibility. The development of our profession in the next few years directly depends on this slope, and the result of this production is what moves our Brazilian Congresses annually. Each year there is an expressive increase in the number of studies submitted by the attendees, evidencing the development of Brazilian scientific production.

The logistic chosen to evaluate the studies have been striving for the rigor not only with the purpose to present the evaluators with more qualified studies, but also for the attendee to have the disposition, innovation, and excellence of the scientific quality of our production. Bearing this in mind, a space was held in the schedule for Coffee with Science sessions, and presentation of posters and works competing for prizes. At this point, specifically, we know there is a long way to go to reach the much desired quality in the presentations in our congresses. Many beginning researchers have, in the Brazilian Congress, their first opportunity to experiment the presentation of a scientific work for such a diverse public. The outcome of the discussions generated at the congress, among those that produce knowledge and those that are beginners in this function, might result in a reflection about our needs regarding the researchers and the increasing demands to improve our scientific production practices.

The spaces in the schedule for oral presentations and posters were reserved not to concur with other activities. Hence, we provided the attendees the scientific update, and the researchers with the possibility to discuss the results of their studies with their evaluating peers. The result of these presentations ended with the prize "Excellence in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology", recognizing 30 studies (12 Excellence prizes and 18 honorable mentions). This logistic certainly deserves to be improved each year and, with this purpose, the scientific committee will always be opened to suggestions and constructive criticisms, especially thinking in the valorization of the qualification of the studies and their authors.

Thus, our Brazilian Congress is an unique opportunity for effective congregation of undergraduate and graduate alumni, young researchers, managers, faculty, and recognized professionals, allowing not only the propagation of knowledge, but also the critical repercussion of their construction models. In general, the scientific schedule tried to attend to the yearnings of the whole category that acts in the scene of Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and to whom the event was constructed.

Brasília, the capital of Brazil, was elected by the SBFa for its geopolitical importance. It was the first time that our nation's capital received the Brazilian Congress of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. It is estimated that around 16 million* people had access to the media generated during the event, and that nearly 1,359 attendees participated in the event, which will certainly reverse in the propagation of everything that was discussed during the event. In a moment when reconstruction is needed, as signaled by the professionals, there would be no better place to host our annual congregation, from which we hope to keep reaping the good fruit.

Marileda Tomé and Hilton Justino

Scientific board of the SBFa

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  07 Jan 2013
• Date of issue
  2012