Grau de informação, atitudes e representações sobre o risco e a prevenção de AIDS em adolescentes pobres do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Abstract

Four hundred and sixteen poor adolescents of both sexes in Rio de Janeiro were interviewed to study both their level of information and symbolic representations concerning AIDS risk and prevention. The most common source of information on HIV/AIDS was the mass media, particularly television broadcasts. There were doubts and lack of trust regarding official government information on HIV/AIDS. Nearly 70% of the adolescents interviewed believe in HIV transmission through mosquito bites and some 40% through casual contact with wounds or scars or sharing of bathroom utensils. Men seemed to show a greater awareness and autonomy vis- -vis taking initiatives in sex encounters. Attitudes of segregation and exclusion of people with AIDS persist. Lack of prevention was attributed to the impossibility of predicting sexual encounters. The study of symbolic aspects concerning causes of HIV/AIDS displayed broad variability: 80% of the interviewees associated AIDS with excesses in sexual behavior and 40% with homosexual practices. Causal images vary from the predominant view of AIDS as unfair punishment to the less frequent stance considering AIDS as fair punishment (due to sinful behavior). An ambiguous attitude towards transgression (taking as its sterotype the figure of Rio's "malandro", or "streetwise dude") may influence perception of risk and prevention. The paper calls attention to the need for implementing clearer and more direct educational programs. This could be useful for the implementation of culturally sensitive control measures through a reshaping of AIDS symbols. The author recommends a better understanding of the social and economic determinants of disease and reinforcement of the kinds of discourse which empower and raise the self-esteem of poor adolescents by endorsing their civil rights.

Vulnerabilidades ao HIV/aids no Contexto Brasileiro: iniquidades de gênero, raça e geração

“…Com relação às informações sobre a aids, ressalte-se o fato de que as formas incorretas de transmissão citadas em vários relatos corroboram os achados de estudos realizados há quase vinte anos e ainda recorrentes em trabalhos mais recentes (Merchán-Hamann, 1995;Gir e col., 1999;Galvão e col., 2003). Segundo esses trabalhos, as campanhas não têm sido eficientes na divulgação das formas de transmissão da aids, deixando muitas dúvidas e lacunas.…”

Hiv prevention in the school context: what we have and what we want

“…[17][18][19] Though youth is a time for absorbing wholesome knowledge and concepts only receive information about AIDS is not sufficient to generate the individual protective behavior, but also involves the perception, understanding and the ability of assimilation and transformation, with the caveat the context in which the individual emerges .…”

Adolescente com compulsão de assistir TV: relato de caso

“…3 However, negative influences are more emphasized by the literature: the possible relationship between TV and some damages to health, such as sedentary lifestyle, obesity, aggressive behaviors, reduction in sleeping hours, early onset of tobacco use, early sexual initiation and poor school performance. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In addition to those damages, compulsive behavior related to the act of watching TV starts being discussed.…”