Abstract
This study was developed in an endemic area of tegumentary leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the objective of analyzing a health education process based on the social representations theory. The educational model was developed in two phases with 34 local residents. In the first phase, social representations of leishmaniasis were identified and analyzed. The second phase was based on the interaction between social representations and scientific knowledge. The results showed that social representations were structured in a central core by the terms "wound" and "mosquito" and in the peripheral system by the terms "mountains", "standing water", and "injection" related respectively to place, transmission, and treatment of the disease. We concluded that tegumentary leishmaniasis is viewed as a wound caused by a mosquito, portrayed by metaphors. The results of the second phase showed that social representations are systems that favor adherence to scientific knowledge, at times more rigidly in the central core, other times more flexibly when linked to the peripheral systems.
Highlights
This study was developed in an endemic area of tegumentary leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the objective of analyzing a health education process based on the social representations theory
The current study aims to analyze the relationship between a health education process based on social representations theory and the control of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) in an endemic area in the hinterlands of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil
The study was conducted in Brejo do Mutambal, an endemic area for tegumentary leishmaniasis, with prevalence rates of some 60%
Summary
This study was developed in an endemic area of tegumentary leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais, Brazil, with the objective of analyzing a health education process based on the social representations theory. The current study aims to analyze the relationship between a health education process based on social representations theory and the control of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) in an endemic area in the hinterlands of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The subjects themselves (with their life history and experience), the social and ideological system to which they belong, and the nature of their links to this social system determine such representations simultaneously This socially constructed and shared knowledge aims at producing answers to daily issues, exerting an influence on the choices of subjects’ attitudes, opinions, and practices [7,8,9,10]. The article proposes to reflect on the applicability of contributions by social representations theory to health education activities based on an actual experience with the control of tegumentary leishmaniasis in an endemic area in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil
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