SANTOS, M. V. S. Representações Sociais de pessoas em situação de rua sobre cuidados para Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis [Social Representations of homeless people on care for Sexually Transmitted Infections]. 89f. 2017. Master’s Dissertation – Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador (BA), 2017.
Available on: http://repositorio.ufba.br/ri/handle/ri/24382
Although Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) appear as the 7th health problem among homeless people, they constitute a public health problem that requires individual and collective care actions. In common sense, the homeless population is vulnerable to STI contamination and transmission due to adverse survival conditions. The continuous growth of homeless people, the increase in the number of STI cases in the general population, the lack of research on this topic with the homeless population, and the indication to implement and/or implement care aimed at this population group, in order to meet the principles of integrality, equity and universalization, constitute elements for the development of this research. The objective is to analyze the social representations of homeless people about care for STIs. This is a qualitative research based on the principles of Theory of Social Representations, which involved 72 homeless people assisted in two Institutional Reception Units, in the city of Salvador/BA. Of the total number of participants, 28 performed the projective technique of Drawing-and-Story Procedure (D-E) with a given theme and 10 responded to a semi-structured interview. Data from D-E were analyzed in line with Coutinho’s proposed analysis, resulting in 5 thematic axes. The content of the interviews was organized for processing by the IRAMUTEQ software, resulting in the elaboration of the Descending Hierarchical Classification, consisting of 6 classes. The joint analysis of data from the two techniques resulted in two empirical categories: “Woman, sad, abandoned and betrayed: Image of the person with STI” and “Health care for STIs”. For the investigated group, health care for STIs is anchored in socially disseminated knowledge that lead to preventive actions directed at the use of condoms, hygiene, fixed partnership associated with the search for diagnosis and treatment in health services. For the investigated group, health care for STIs is anchored in socially disseminated knowledge that lead to preventive actions directed at the use of condoms, hygiene, fixed partnership associated with the search for diagnosis and treatment in health services. It indicates sheltered sex as a type of safe sex and as a specificity linked to the living conditions of the investigated group. The use of different techniques was essential to reveal elements of social representations about the investigated object and specificities of the investigated group. Although limited by the number of participants, the social representations apprehended reveal the group’s tendency to maintain health care socially disclosed in the street context. This research brings contributions and reflections for the practice and training of Nursing and other health professionals who are dedicated to the care of homeless people.