Significados atribuídos a corpo, saúde e doença pelos portadores de insuficiência renal crônica

Abstract

Health and disease, just like the body, are social constructions; how anyone live these process and the meanings that they are going to receive are related to the culture they re in. In this context, knowing of a chronic disease case implies several emotional and psychic matters. In a Chronic Renal Failure s case (CRF) - a progressive and irreversible loss in renal function disease the patient needs to struggle against the incapacities and changes acquired through the rest of his/her life. Because of that, this dissertation s objective is to present and discuss the results of a research that sought the meanings of CRF, health/ illness and body for those patients. A clinical-qualitative research conducting was chosen, whose informers were Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria s nephrology service clinic patients, which were doing dialysis or hemodialysis. The information gathering instrument choice was a semi directed interview, which were studied through a thematic content analysis. It was found that exists in society a premise where health connected to immortality is a supreme good and must be sought and desired. Illness, on the contrary, must be countered, because it reminds of incapability, loss, body imperfection and ugliness. So, considering how patients deal with the health/ disease process and treatment matter, just like they experience it and its meaning, it is viable for this context s professionals, to provide congruent assistance.