BackgroundTuberculosis remains an important disease which mainly affects the majority of vulnerable individuals in society, who are subjected to poor living conditions and difficulties to access the services of public health. Under these circumstances, the present study aims to understand patients’ perception in relation to the influence of individual and social vulnerabilities on the adherence to tuberculosis treatment.MethodsA qualitative descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in one large municipality at the state of Paraíba, Northeast of Brazil. The study subjects, who were residents of the study site, covered all tuberculosis cases diagnosed between March and June 2015. The sample was defined by the criteria of response saturation. All interviews were audio recorded, and data analysis was developed through the hermeneutic dialectic method and the theory of Generative Route Sense. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of São Paulo (USP).ResultsA total of 13 individuals were interviewed and the responses were identified into two analytical categories: the difficulties they had and the enabling factors they could mention during their tuberculosis treatment. Patients brought up social exclusion as an obstacle to treatment adherence, which, along with stigmatization, weakened their link with family members and health professionals. Moreover, economic precariousness was a major hindrance to the maintenance of a proper diet and transportation access to health centers. However, social support and directly observed treatment helped to break down barriers of prejudice and to promote individual and family empowerment. Finally, patients also reported that their will to live and faith gave them the strength to continue with the treatment.ConclusionsAccording to patients in this study, social support and the strengthening of links with family members and health professionals may reduce social exclusion and other difficulties they face, thus encouraging them to the adhere to tuberculosis treatment.

Tuberculosis is a contagious infectious disease mainly caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis that still meets the priority criteria - high magnitude, transcendence and vulnerability - due to the threat it poses to public health. When taking into consideration the vulnerability conditions that favor the onset of the disease, this article aimed to investigate the implications originated from individual and social vulnerability conditions in which tuberculosis patients are inserted. Databases like MEDLINE, LILACS and SciELO were searched in Portuguese, Spanish and English using the descriptors tuberculosis and vulnerability, and 183 articles were found. After the selection criterion was applied, there were 22 publications left to be discussed. Some of the aspects that characterize the vulnerability to tuberculosis are: low-income and low-education families, age, poor living conditions, chemical dependency, pre-existing conditions/aggravations like diabetes mellitus and malnutrition, indigenous communities, variables related to health professionals, intense border crossings and migration, difficulty in accessing information and health services and lack of knowledge on tuberculosis. Much as such aspects are present and favor the onset of the disease, several reports show high incidence rates of tuberculosis in low vulnerability places, suggesting that some factors related to the disease are still unclear. In conclusion, health promotion is important in order to disfavor such conditions or factors of vulnerability to tuberculosis, making them a primary target in the public health planning process and disease control.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains as a major public health problem, being the second infectious disease to cause death all over the world. The Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) is one of the recommended strategies to control this disease. The accession in this mode of treatment is integrated into the Tuberculosis Control Program (PCT), this program also provide socio-economic incentives as the distribution of food baskets, bus passes and breakfast. Moreover, public policies for social protection help both family development and social vulnerability. Tuberculosis is still associated with social exclusion and marginalization of the population subjected to poor living conditions and limited access to public services.Objective: Analyze the potential accession to tuberculosis treatment related to individual and social vulnerability aspects. Methods:Cross-sectional, qualitative study, conducted with 39 individuals diagnosed with tuberculosis and in treatment for at least 30 days in the city of Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil. 20 markers were used as analysis units, with the possibility of score responses from one to three. The lower scores indicate lower potential of adherence to treatment, while the highest ones express greater potential accession.Results: xx markers that were more related to score one and indicated lower potential adherence to tuberculosis treatment were: tuberculosis impact on labor; conception of health-disease causality and work process (employment status). In contrast, markers that were more closely related to the score three that resonate with greater

Objetivo: resgatar os aspectos da relação entre os Bancos de Leite Humano (BLH) e a Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF). Métodos: revisão integrativa da literatura, com abordagem descritivo-exploratória dos textos. As buscas foram realizadas nas bases de dados da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) e da SciELO, com os seguintes descritores: leite humano, bancos de leite, doações, pré-natal e programa saúde da família. Foram incluídos artigos publicados entre os anos de 2000 e 2011, em português, inglês e espanhol. Resultados: foi evidenciada uma precariedade dos conhecimentos dos profissionais da ESF sobre os BLH, o que reflete um trabalho incipiente durante o pré-natal, com abordagem apenas dos aspectos superficiais dos BLH, o que não é suficiente para captar maiores números de doadoras. Observou-se a inexistência de uma co-responsabilidade entre essas instituições na promoção do aleitamento materno. Conclusão: faz-se necessário estabelecer parcerias efetivas entre a ESF e os BLH para a sensibilização das nutrizes, proporcionando o aumento do número de doadoras, auxiliando na consolidação da atuação dos BLH. São poucas as referências abordando o assunto, fato que sugere a necessidade de mais estudos sobre o tema.

O objetivo deste estudo foi relatar a experiência de implantação e desenvolvimento de um grupo terapêutico com indivíduos com sobrepeso e obesidade realizada em uma Unidade Básica de Saúde da Família (UBSF) de um município paraibano através de abordagem interdisciplinar com oficinas educacionais, intervencionistas e vivenciais. Foram realizadas 14 oficinas educativas e 48 encontros de atividades de práticas corporais. As oficinas educativas foram embasadas na metodologia participativa de Paulo Freire. Participaram 25 indivíduos, com idades entre 20 e 79 anos. Os principais resultados encontrados referem-se à perda de peso, melhora nos níveis pressóricos, mudanças nos hábitos alimentares e melhor qualidade de vida. Percebeu-se nesta vivência a importância da educação nutricional e da prática regular de atividade física como instrumentos de promoção, prevenção e tratamento para obesidade. Palavras-Chave: Alimentação Saudável. Educação. Atividade Física. Qualidade de vida. Interdisciplinaridade.

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae infection. The incubation period after the primary infection can be as long as decades. This bacterium has a tropism for macrophages and Schwann cells and as result neuropathies are frequent. The state of Rio Grande do Norte in northeastern Brazil has areas of low and high endemicity for leprosy. The aim of this study was to analyze a leprosy time series from Rio Grande do Norte, from 2005 to 2014, based on data provided by the Notifiable Diseases Information System from the State Secretariat of Health. This was a quantitative, descriptive and analytical study. We considered variables such as sex, age, clinical form, operational classification and disability grade at diagnosis. There were 3,426 cases of leprosy reported of which 1,781 were females (52%). Of those patients, 29% presented disability at diagnosis. The high level of disability in patients along with the lack of information regarding disability levels indicates the need for more effective measures, with early diagnosis to decrease morbidity as leprosy still remains as a serious public health problem.

Introduction: Tuberculosis remains as a serious public health problem, and the current challenge is to find effective solutions that facilitate adherence to the treatment.Objective: Describe the distribution of the adhesion markers scores to treat tuberculosis, related to aspects of programmatic vulnerability.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, which included 39 patients with tuberculosis, developed in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. Data were collected in March 2015, through a structured interview with an instrument containing 32 adherence markers, applied in the reference clinic for tuberculosis or in the patient's residence. A descriptive analysis was performed using 12 markers expressing programmatic vulnerability elements, divided into two areas: structure and dynamic aspects of health services organization, and implementation of actions. Results:It was observed similar patterns of scores distribution in the two axes of analysis, with higher medians and larger variations to score 3. The markers that showed more score 1, implying in a low adherence potential, were 'patient's residence visit', 'time for diagnosis' and 'treatment difficulty relative to the public health system'. The more positive contribution on the potential accession was the bond markers.

Introduction: Tuberculosis is a major public health condition worldwide. The partnership between Healthcare Services and the patient is the gold standard for a successful healing outcome and a reduction in the harm the disease causes to patients and society in general.Objective: To analyze the vulnerability aspects that make tuberculosis healing difficult according to the perspective of patients and public healthcare managers. Methods: This is a descriptive study conducted in the year 2013 inCajazeiras, a town located in the state of Paraíba in the northeastern region of Brazil. The study population was composed of 4 healthcare managers and 29 patients with confirmed tuberculosis diagnosis. In order to gather the sample of tuberculosis patients, a search on the Information System on Diseases of Compulsory Declaration (SINAN, in the Portuguese abbreviation) was run.