Being a woman and having an injured body: a study of social representations

Abstract

Objective: To discuss the social representations of women with chronic wounds about being a woman and having a body injured and the implications of these representations on social relations. Methods: Qualitative research with women with chronic wounds, attended at health units in Bahia who answered the interview in depth and draft-story theme. The data were submitted to thematic content analysis. Results: Representations about being a woman and having a wounded body are centered on ideas and experiences that reveal stigma, pain, sadness, loneliness, irritation, dependence, and the need to approach God. Conclusion: The representations of the participants interfere in the way of dressing, of relating to oneself and to the people in their surroundings implying in isolation and solitude. Representations reproduce stigmas about body image that do not meet socially and culturally determined beauty and health criteria

Meanings of living with a chronic wound: a meta-synthesis study

“…(n = 1), Italy (n = 1) and Sweden (n = 1), as described in Table 1. The 13 articles 7,21-23,27-35 included a total of 248 participants, most of them female (n = 145), aged between 27 and 95 years old and of different ethnicities, who experienced the condition of being affected by venous ulcers 27,29,33 , various chronic wounds 7,28 , leg ulcers 22,[30][31][32]35 , pressure injury 21 , diabetic foot 34 , as well as individuals with lower limb amputation composing the sample of the same study 23 .…”

“…Various qualitative designs were used for data production, including semi-structured interviews [21][22][23]27,[29][30][31][32]34,35 , phenomenological interview 33 , in-depth interview 7,28 , drawing-story theme 28 and focus group interview 32 . The theoretical analysis plan that supported the development of the studies was guided by the assumptions of the thematic content analysis 7,21,22,[27][28][29][30]34 , integrated approach to data coding and analysis through the development of taxonomy, themes and theory 23 , grounded theory 31 , phenomenological plan 33 , hermeneutic method 32 and systematic text condensation 35 .…”

“…Most studies 7,[21][22][23][29][30][31][32]34 (n=9) was judged to report properly all CASP checklist issues 24 . In three studies 27,28,35 the information related to the recruitment strategy used was not reported properly and, still on the same question, another study did not describe the recruitment of participants 33 . In the study 27 ,the data collection information was partially reported and the data analysis was insufficiently rigorous, as well as the relationship between the researcher and the participants was not considered.…”

“…This theme represented the initial concerns of the person with a chronic wound in relation to the appearance of the wound and the appearance of the first symptoms, especially regarding the marked characteristic of pain, the initial acceptance of the illness condition and the decision to seek health services motivated by their network of support. The experience of living daily in pain was a meaning often attributed to people with chronic wounds 7,[21][22][23][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] . Previous studies 32,[36][37][38] showed that the pain symptom is the most commonly reported by the interviewees, followed by secretions, odors, discomfort, anxiety and depression, which is in accordance with the findings of this meta-synthesis.…”

“…The pain caused by the chronic wound was highlighted in all the studies that composed this meta-synthesis, being described as continuous and with a feeling of unpredictable relief 7,22 . In addition to the pain, people said they felt burning and itching at the wound site, which over the weeks seemed to leave them limited, powerless, frustrated and with interference in the areas of quality of life, which consequently resulted in social isolation 28,35 .…”