POPULAR CARE OF WOUNDS: REPRESENTATIONS AND PRACTICES IN THE SÃO GONÇALO COMMUNITY, MATO GROSSO, BRAZIL

Abstract

This is an ethnographic study developed in a community, in Brazil. Its objectives were to understand the care with wounds. Concepts of cultural anthropology and of the Theory of Social Representations were adopted as theoretical frameworks. The narratives of eight women and the analyses of data showed that, in this community, the inhabitants have peculiar manner of explaining the wounds, admitting natural, social and a spiritual causes more than therapeutic procedures. A hiatus between the health professionals and the population was identified, demonstrating that mainly linguistic and cultural barriers generate this. In conclusion, this study showed the importance and the need for the establishment of intercultural dialogue between those two groups, which can be achieved by means of changes in the paradigms that guide the teaching, the research and the practice of nurses and other health professionals.