Abstract
This paper aims to explore how men, in the presence of suspect or diagnosis, can assimilate information about sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and how this comprehension can integrate with their therapeutic itineraries. This study is part of a larger research about the access to diagnosis and treatment of STD (excluding HIV/Aids). It involved 18 individual in-depth interviews with men attending in health services, and four focus groups with service workers. All participants have access to information on STD by lectures and campaigns, especially about Aids. Information has different meanings when there is lack of signs/symptoms or when there is the presence of STD's: feeling of invulnerability or doubts, fears and shame, respectively. The secrecy that internet can provide became a prime source of information when there is a suspicion/diagnosis of STD, but this information can reproduce the biomedical discourses, and do not give answers able to mitigate moral judgments and STD's stigma. Men choose the doctor as the mainly way of treatment and care, which justifies the persistence to look for health care services. Besides the range of services, it seems seasonable that information follows health communication, according to the population's needs, and digital inclusion can be synonymous with digital citizenship.
Key words:
communication & health; therapeutic itineraries; sexually transmitted diseases; internet