The meanings of differential health care given by health professionals of the Alto Rio Negro DSEI-AM, BrazilAbstract
This article discusses the meanings of differentiated health care guideline given by health professionals from the Indigenous Health Multidisciplinary Team (EMSI) who work at the Alto Rio Negro Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI-ARN). This exploratory, descriptive, analytical, and qualitative study conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with professionals from the Indigenous Health Multidisciplinary Teams of the DSEI-ARN, which were submitted to content analysis. The four meaning cores identified from the analyses were: Differentiated care as a way of providing primary care in the territory; Actions conducted under the population’s cultural differences; Self-care, traditional medicine, and the construction of therapeutic itineraries; and Professionals’ challenges and difficulties in addressing traditional indigenous health care. In the professionals’ perspective, differentiated health care is linked to the conditions for working in this primary care type. For their performance, they refer to the need to respect the cultural differences of the Indigenous population. Professionals recognize the use and effectiveness of Indigenous practices, knowledge, and regional specificities.
Key words: Indigenous health service; Health of Indigenous populations; Amazonian ecosystem; Health personnel; Qualitative research