Abstract
This work had the objective of investigating the senses attributed by men to health in the city of Natal/RN, in two different contexts: one in a Basic Health Unity from a middle class neighborhood, and another in a Family Heath Unity of a popular neighborhood. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 men, between 25 and 59 years old, 12 from each group. The data analysis for the discursive practices and for the gender studies was done using Spink’s perspective (200 & Frezza, 2000; Sink & Medrado, 2000). The found data follow the tendency of other researches already done in this area, especially when it comes to identify how gender social positions create the senses that the interviewed men built about “health”, attributing to it the importance of providing the conditions for a masculinity exercise oriented to supporting their families and homes. There was a difference concerning the senses of resolution of problems related to health when it comes to the investigated services: the majority of the Basic Health Unity pointed to a small solving, creating senses of ineffectiveness of the service. In the Family Health Unity, however, the senses present a bigger positivity concerning the services. We believe that is explained by the nature of the “Family Health Strategy”. Finally, we identified that the search for health services in the basic levels is limited, a fact that follows a study showing that men look for health services only when they are demanding specialized care. We conclude that the PNAISH could be an important contribution if turned into a health policy, sensitizing the entire network of actors and services involved in the search for new meanings and practices around the gender-health relationship.
Men health; Senses production; Gender relations