This study investigated the health-related concerns of adolescents living on streets as compared to poor and privileged adolescents living with their families in São Paulo, Brazil. The different groups of respondents were similar in terms of individuals' fear of disease and lack of concern about health in old age. AIDS and cancer were feared by most of the respondents in the different groups, particularly because of their severity and people's vulnerability to these conditions. Health in old age was not a major concern in any of the study groups. It is suggested that health educators take into account the wide range of concerns among adolescents on the streets in order to design interventions that cater for different levels of interest and motivation. It is also argued that there is a need for health education in order to clarify misperceptions about disease transmission, prevention and treatment among adolescents from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
The present paper reports on a study, which investigated explanations of health and illness among adolescents from three socio‐economic backgrounds in São Paulo, Brazil. Interviews and group discussions were used to elicit definitions of health and illness, explanations of illness causality and prevention and maintenance of health among 31 deprived adolescents with recent experience of living on the streets, 20 adolescents from poor families and 20 adolescents from privileged families. The findings showed that adolescents from different socio‐economic conditions draw upon similar explanatory models to make sense of health and illness. There were also clear distinctions between the groups. Health and illness were presented as being dependent upon multiple factors such as resistance of the body and socio‐economic status among privileged adolescents. In contrast, the explanations offered by deprived and poor adolescents for both health and illness rested on behaviour or exposure to environmental hazards. Moreover, drugs, sexually transmitted diseases and faith in God were prominent features of the accounts from deprived adolescents. The findings suggest a need for health professionals to be sensitive to people's perspectives of health and illness and their link to socio‐economic conditions. To emphasize individuals’ behaviour in the provision of health‐related information among deprived adolescents might be counter productive and reinforce victim blaming.
English This article reports on social environments for the implementation of interventions aimed at preventing street life among young people in Sâo Paulo, Brazil. The findings suggest the prospect of prevention of street life, which focuses on families and communities in this context, is hardly feasible. Public institutions are identified as the most suitable localities for preventive interventions. French Cet article explore les environnements sociaux les plus appropriés pour mener des interventions visant à empêcher la vie de rue parmi les jeunes à São Paulo, Brésil. Les résultats suggèrent qu'une perspective de prévention mettant l’accent sur les familles et les communautés est à peine appropriée dans ce contexte. Les établissements publics sont identifiés comme étant les endroits les plus appropriées pour mener des interventions préventives. Spanish Se informa sobre entornos sociales para la puesta en práctica de intervenciones dirigidas a prevenir el peligro de la vida callejera entre los jóvenes de San Pablo en el Brasil. Los hallazgos sugieren que las posibilidades de prevención de la vida callejera no son buenas si la prevención se enfoca en las familias y las comunidades. Se señalan las instituciones públicas como los lugares más adecuados para intervenciones preventivas.
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