A interdição da doença: uma construção cultural da esquistossomose em área endêmica, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Desenvolvido em uma área endêmica em esquistossomose, zona rural de Minas Gerais, Brasil, este estudo pretendeu analisar a relação entre um Programa de Educação Ambiental e Saúde, e a postura dos sujeitos frente aos ambientes e à doença. O programa de educação implementado, destinou-se a professores e alunos da escola estadual do lugarejo de Boa União. Pautou-se em um importante dispositivo diferencial com relação aos programas mais usuais neste campo educacional, ao buscar uma perspectiva não puramente instrumental e cognitiva de conhecimento da realidade e da doença, mas uma abordagem na qual os sujeitos são levados a indagar e investigar juntos as suas percepções da realidade, dos ambientes e da doença. Ficou demonstrado que é a partir do conhecimento e reflexão acerca da experiência dos sujeitos com os ambientes e com a doença, experiência entendida aqui como campo onde se entrecruzam representações e práticas, aspectos objetivos e subjetivos, o racional e o empírico, que se obtém o confronto e ruptura cognitivos indispensáveis a uma mudança de postura dos sujeitos.

The impact of two education methods on knowledge of schistosomiasis transmission and prevention among schoolchildren in a rural community in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…Similar results were achieved by studies developed by our group in other endemic areas for schistosomiasis and leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais by using a similar model (Gazzinelli et al 2002, Reis 2003. The failure to raise knowledge levels in Group 2 (cognitive approach) and Group 3 (control group) parallels the outcomes of other health education interventions in other endemic areas in Brazil and other countries using cognitive models (Uchôa et al 2000, Valla & Oliveira 2001, Silva et al 2002, Sow et al 2003.…”

“…Even though some elements of the Schistosmoma transmission cycle, such as "snail", "feces", and "water" related to schistosomiasis were described by the students, they were not able to show the connection with the life cycle in all three groups (Tables II, III). These ideas and images have been reported by other studies as commonly known to students but they do not reveal whether students correctly understood the life cycle of Schistosoma (Gazzinelli 2002, Lansdow et al 2002. Therefore, knowledge about schistosomiasis transmission and the parasite's life cycle should be worked out in detail in all their complexities, taking into consideration the socioeconomic status and cultural experiences of the children.…”

“…Most answers in both prevention and transmission in the pre-test were related to contact with polluted water and excreta in the stream being the word caramujo (snail) used several times and associated with schistosomiasis. Although most studies have found similar results, showing schistosomiasis as a water-borne disease that is contracted through contact with streams, they fail to describe snails as being part of the life cycle (Uchôa et al 2000, Gazzinelli et al 2002, Sow et al 2003.…”

“…A few experimental studies that used newer approaches, including the one centering on experience with illness (Gazzinelli et al 2002), the mobilization or community participation model (Cline & Hewlett 1996), and the social representation model (Reis 2003), are promising. However, there are barriers to the use of those models in health education programs, such as lack of the necessary skills among professionals, the difficulty of evaluating results, and other constraints (Lima-Costa et al 2002).…”

Popular beliefs about the infectivity of water among school children in two hyperendemic schistosomiasis areas of Brazil

“…This philosopher points to the need for more discussion about water as an essential element for everyday life and survival, and its role in man's interaction with the environment, as expressed through rituals, art, beliefs and imagination. Several authors have recognized the importance of common knowledge of water as a prerequisite in the acquisition of scientific knowledge (Struchiner and Schall, 1999;Barata and Briceño-León, 2000;Giordan, 2000;Valla, 2000;Valla and Oliveira, 2001;Bachelard, 2002;Gazzinelli et al, 2002;Rodrigues, 2005a;2005b;Reis et al, 2006;Rosemberg, 2007). These studies contribute to a better understanding of the impediments and opportunities of changing common knowledge surrounding different quality levels of water.…”