Perceptions of the health-disease process: meanings and values in health education

The sociological relevance of social representations of the health-disease process lies in the fact that they underlie the various participants' practices and attitudes, as well as the relations they establish with their social context and the health events that affect them. This study focused on social representations of the health-disease process among health workers in the Family Health Program, assuming that such knowledge is essential for developing health education practices. The study adopted a qualitative methodological approach, based on social representations by support staff and family health teams at the Milionários Health Center in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State. Data collection used a semi-structured individual interview on the following issues: health-disease process; health education; and barriers or difficulties in prescribing/adopting healthy habits. The data were submitted to content analysis, based on the following categories: dimensions of the health-disease process; barriers or difficulties in adopting healthy habits; and meanings and values in health education. The data point to the need for conceptual changes in continuing training of these health workers and the inclusion of a collective focus, approaching the expanded concept of health and its social and contextual determinants. There is also a need for new methodologies for health workers in the Family Health Program to extend beyond information and redefine concepts in the health-disease process, establishing new practices and processes in health work.

health education; social representations; health promotion