Representações sociais do processo saúde-doença de trabalhadores rurais via metodologia Q no Distrito de Arroio do Só, Município de Santa Maria, RS.

Abstract

A study was carried out to understand the process of health and sickness in a sample of rural workers located at the Santa Maria Municipality, district of Arroio do So (RS, Brazil). The conceptual background of the study is based upon the theory of social representation. This theory consists of the beliefs, values and norms that influence not only thoughts but also behavior of the people. Needless to say that it is important to take into account the social, economical, political and cultural context of society where people live and work. This context affects social representations of the people. Q-methodology was employed to generate (by qualitative techniques) and analyze (by quantitative techniques) the information. Q is aimed at revealing the inner world of the people, a complex system composed of values, beliefs, thoughts, and so on. In this sense Q is an appropriate approach to study social representations. The implementation of the methodology implies 7 stages that can be reduced to 3 important moments. In the moment one, 10 people were interviewed as qualified informants, to develop the set of statements to be sorted through content analysis (Bardin, 1977). In the second stage, 34 rural workers were interviewed and asked to rank-order opinion statements about why they perceive the health and sickness process. In stage three the data was analyzed and interpreted using a special statistical software program called PCQ. The results of analysis content show that people who live and or work in the country relate to their environment in a particular way that affects their lives totally. Consequently, social representations of health and sickness are influenced with this interaction. Three different categories emerged: a) the process of health and sickness depends of live conditions and habits, b) the process of health and sickness depends of work characteristics, and c) cultural practices related to health and sickness. A matrix was built upon these 3 categories in order to develop the statements. The results of factorial analysis show that 3 factors emerged. They were labeled: a) health and integral prevention, b) popular health system, and c) work-health relation. These factors are related to the categories coming from the content analysis. Taking into account that there are differences between the urban and rural contexts, and that social representations are dynamic and heterogeneous, public health politics should consider them when rural development programs are planned. This will lead nicely to develop programs well suited to the rural conditions, needs and demands. It is important to avoid copying to the rural context what is being done in the urban one.