This study analyzes the social representations of Hansen's disease in São Domingos do Capim-PA, from the perspective of the anthropology of disease. The representations are understood as socially constructed dynamic structures that underlie the actions of individuals and groups in the resolution of episodes of illness and the production of meaning to the experience of illness. To understand the logic of the interpretations of the disease, were reconstituted the therapeutic itineraries of patients from data collected in field observations, conducted over four years, and narrative interviews with patients, family and community health workers. Were deducted four emic nosological categories regarding symptoms of Hansen's disease - "spots", "leprosy", "spell" and "leprosy" - that constitute the repertoire from which the interpretations and practices are formulated. The use of different categories occurs according to local schemes that allow the evaluation of personal and social contexts of the disease outbreak in a dynamic, articulating the perceptions of patients and their families, interpretations and diagnostic approach of traditional healers and practitioners of Biomedicine. The study shows that the interpretative repertoire and therapeutic means of Biomedicine are reinterpreted by patients, according to the logic of representations and practices of local health and that the control of leprosy requires understanding the social dynamics involved in the interpretation and practice of disease in order to enable the establishment of a dialogical relationship between health professionals and local actors.
Hansen's disease; social representation; therapeutic itineraries
