Health care practices of adolescent men in a peripheral community: collective subject discourse

Abstract

Objective: to apprehend the health care practices exercised by male adolescents, who live in peripheral communities in the urban area. Method: Qualitative study conducted with adolescent men aged between 18 and 21 years, who attended a public school in the municipality of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. Individual interviews were carried out, submitted to methodological analysis by the Collective Subject Discourse and interpreted by the praxeology reference of care. Results: male health care was central to the understanding of care as a dimension of human life, daily relationships, concern for material goods and the family, in which health occupies an important place. Health care practices were concentrated on the body with the control and maintenance of hygiene, body image and physical appearance, balanced nutrition, improved immune status, hydration and physical activity. The adoption of behaviors to protect environmental factors and aimed at controlling alcohol consumption was also considered, and finally, labor relations, the search for medical attention in health services, the performance of diagnostic tests and the prevention of diseases from immunization. Men use preventive resources and aspire to positive contributions in the performance of health-centered care practices. Conclusion : The exercise of health care practices provided the achievement and maintenance of health, as well as positive influences on the boys' quality of life, preventing possible complications, preventing illness and promoting healthy aging.