Abstract
Objective
To analyze the social representations of quilombola women about health care.
Method
this is a descriptive qualitative study that was carried out between November 2017 and January 2018 in the quilombola community Abacatal/Aurá, in Ananindeua, Pará State, Brazil. Thirty women who experience health care participated. Data were produced via individual interviews, submitted to thematic analysis, and discussed based on the Social Representations Theory.
Results
representations were organized into three dimensions: affective, the most representative, where relationships of affection and feelings were anchored; social, in which care was perceived as a practice inherent to women; and biological, with care being understood as general care for disease prevention and treatment.
Conclusions and implications for practice
the representations of health care showed a strong affective charge, denoting a preservation sense of life and environment, referred to an identity of care for the female gender and, even though a minority, revealed habits and endorsed hygienist actions by the technical-scientific discourse intertwined with traditional knowledge. These aspects bring singularities that nursing must consider, as it acts and (re)produces comprehensive health care for individuals and their respective groups.
Keywords:
Nursing; African Continental Ancestry Group; Women; Psychology, Social; Health of Ethnic Minorities