Mulheres, saúde e grupalidade

Abstract

de carnaval, Dia das Mães etc.), fazer relaxamento, ouvir histórias, dançar, cantar. Um espaço em que elas puderam desenvolver a criatividade, vivendo situações novas e desafiadoras: ser artista de teatro, dançar, publicar um livro, passear com amigas, resgatar a alegria e o prazer de viver com o outro. Não serem apenas expectadoras, mas, sim, subirem ao palco e serem protagonistas de suas próprias vidas. No grupo, elas puderam experimentar outros modos de subjetividade que contribuíram para desmanchar territórios cristalizados.Palavras-chave: processo grupal, grupo dispositivo, histórias de vida, saúde. 11 AbstractGroup activities are present in many fields of knowledge and are an important tool within primary healthcare. When regarded as a process, the group may represent resistance to individualization and may act as a device with the capacity to construct ways of producing desire and creativity, thereby causing singular subjectivation. The present study described and analyzed a group experience among women as a space for producing desires and demystifying the ways to exist and live. This investigation of qualitative nature was conducted among members of the Reviver ("Live Again") social group, formed by women aged 50 years and over. This group was started in 1999, and its original target population was female users of the mental health sector of the Health Center School of the Botucatu Medical School, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Its aim was to provide a space for health promotion and leisure. Initially, women were referred to the group by the Health Center but as the group strengthened, the participants themselves started to invite friends and family members to join. The data gathering techniques used were participant observation, interviews with group organizers and interviews based on the life histories of five women. The life histories were transcribed in full and evaluated by means of thematic content analysis. The core topics were identified according to different cycles of life, and the most important of these during childhood and young adulthood were financial difficulties and violence, while during married life they were "a woman's place is in the home", weakened social ties, financial difficulties, experiences of violence and professional help.Significant core topics relating to experiences within the Reviver group were also recognized, namely: experiences that led them to the group, "being welcomed", "being together", solidarity, "dealing with mental distress", "fear of being without the group" and "trying new things". The narratives showed the extent to which being a women in certain social contexts limited them regarding their personal choices. These women were very isolated within their family environments and dedicated themselves to domestic tasks or to work until their children had grown up. However, it could be seen that after they started to attend Reviver meetings, their lives became transformed. This may have happened because the group operated as a device that produced new pos...