ABSTRACT.
Exclusion contexts constitute cycles of marginalization of population groups, such as the homeless people (HP). In this context, human rights violations are recurrent, especially related to the difficulty of access to health services. The effectiveness of the policies for HP in Brazilian cities is still scarce, due to its restriction to medium and large cities and the limited public investment. Thus, the study sought to investigate HP health care paths in a small city. Field observations and semi-structured interviews were carried out to identify and understand the resources used in health care trajectories, which were analyzed based on thematic content analysis. Several strategies developed by the public in the face of the denial to the health rights and self-care are highlighted. Among the results, the precariousness of offers to women's health care, the restriction of health care to the use of psychoactive substances, of medicalizing nature and centered on the abstinence paradigm were stood out. It was observed the importance of housing for comprehensive care, and social and community networks as a way of restoring health on the streets.
Keywords:
Health rights; homeless people; social exclusión