Abstract

PEZO SILVA, María Concepción; SOUZA PRACA, Neide de  and  COSTA STEFANELLI, Maguida. Women in charge of family health-verifying cultural universality of care. Index Enferm [online]. 2004, vol.13, n.46, pp.13-17. ISSN 1699-5988.

Introduction: Health Care Providers' little familiarization with the socio-cultural process that directs the behavior of individuals concerning their health care brought about this study. Objective: To identify the cultural factors present in the woman's action when taking care of a family member with either physical or mental disability. Method: This is a transcultural study made up of two researches that adopted the Cultural Anthropology and ethnographic study as well. One of the studies was carried out with six inhabitants in a slum in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil and the other with women from six families of two provinces in Lambayeque, Peru. Results: Both researches showed that, in the face of either a physical or mental disability of a family member, the woman takes responsibility for their treatment adopting domestic, mystic practices and/or searches for prompt and effective medical service. The researches also showed that it is the woman who notices alterations in their health pattern. Conclusion: The different cultural contexts have similarities that approximate them and both indicate the need for health care providers' attention towards a kind of care focused on the women considering their culture.