Women and leprosy: interferences and experiences

• Published in: Revista latino-americana de enfermagem 2021-01, Vol.29, p.e3419-e3419
• Main Authors: Gonçalves, Marcela, Santos, Karen da Silva, Silva, Simone Santana da, Marcussi, Thalita Caroline Cardoso, Carvalho, Kisa Valladão, Fortuna, Cinira Magali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Disease management; Health Personnel; Leprosy; NURSING; Original; Public Health; Qualitative research; Quality of life; Social Vulnerability; Women; Womens health; Work
• ISSN: 1518-8345; 0104-1169; 1518-8345
• DOI: 10.1590/1518-8345.4347.3419

Objective: to know the interferences of leprosy in women's lives and how they reinvent themselves in coping with the disease. Method: a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. The theoretical-methodological framework adopts an approximation to the cartographic method and some concepts of schizoanalysis, which were used to analyze the data. The tools used to produce the data were the interview and the logbook. The interviews were conducted from July to November 2019, at the participants' homes. Results: the group consisted of nine women. To display the data, we were inspired by Deleuze's ideas about difference and repetition. The results were organized in three thematic axes that address the lives of these women affected by leprosy, which accompany concerns, anxieties and worries about the effects of the disease. The transformations in the female body, the financial maintenance itself due to the comorbidities caused by leprosy and its difficulties in guaranteeing rights are elements strongly pointed out by women. Conclusion: there is overlap and interference of the female condition in a patriarchal society that still accompanies it. We bet on the strength of becoming-a-woman and the need to consider them in their singularities and in their context for producing care permeated by meetings of the affirmation of the power of life. Resumo Objetivo: conocer las interferencias de la enfermedad de Hansen en la vida de las mujeres y cómo se reinventan en el afrontamiento de la enfermedad. Método: estudio de abordaje cualitativo. El marco teórico-metodológico adopta un acercamiento al método cartográfico y algunos conceptos de esquizoanálisis, que fueron utilizados para analizar los datos. Las herramientas utilizadas para producir los datos fueron la entrevista y el libro de registro. Las entrevistas se realizaron de julio a noviembre de 2019, en los domicilios de las participantes. Resultados: el grupo estuvo compuesto por nueve mujeres. Para presentar los datos, nos inspiramos en las ideas de Deleuze sobre la diferencia y la repetición. Los resultados se organizaron en tres ejes temáticos que abordan la vida de estas mujeres afectadas por la enfermedad de Hansen, que acompañan inquietudes, angustias y preocupaciones sobre los efectos de la enfermedad. Los cambios en el cuerpo femenino, la manutención económica propiamente dicha debido a las comorbilidades provocadas por la enfermedad de Hansen y sus dificultades para garantizar los derechos son elementos fu