Abstract
The purpose of this article is to identify the social representations of low-income diabetic women according to the health-disease process. This is a descriptive, exploratory study. Eight participants, all of them patients at a basic health unit in Ribeirão Preto, were interviewed in 2003. The data were organized according to thematic content analysis and analyzed according to theory of social representations. Diabetes is related to negative feelings, such as shock, anger and sadness; the diet plan is linked to the loss of pleasure, and also to health risks. The diabetic women showed an ambivalent relation to medication, perceived it as both tiring and as a resource that promotes well-being and improvements in quality of life. The negative representation of health services seems to interfere with the behavior of adherence to pharmacological treatment. Understanding the representations of women with diabetes contributes to integral healthcare for diabetic patients.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, and one of the priorities in worldwide public healthcare
It is important to highlight the need of follow-up, support and continuous care by a multiprofessional healthcare team, as two large studies showed in the 1990s(1-2)
Health-disease conceptions have characteristics that vary according to the socio-cultural context[5], i.e. the way in which the subjects interpret health is part of a series of conceptions, values and experiences shared by people participating in the same culture
Summary
SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF LOW-INCOME DIABETIC WOMEN ACCORDING TO THE HEALTH-DISEASE PROCESS. Social representations of low-income diabetic women according to the health-disease process. The purpose of this article is to identify the social representations of low-income diabetic women according to the health-disease process. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo identificar las representaciones sociales de mujeres diabéticas de clases populares en relación al proceso salud-enfermedad. REPRESENTAÇÕES SOCIAIS DE MULHERES DIABÉTICAS, DE CAMADAS POPULARES, EM RELAÇÃO AO PROCESSO SAÚDE-DOENÇA. Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar as representações sociais de mulheres diabéticas das camadas populares em relação ao processo saúde-doença.
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