ABSTRACT
Objective:
to understand health practices of black, elderly people in a terreiro community (community of followers of traditional African-Brazilian religions).
Method:
qualitative descriptive study under the Black-African paradigm of civilization constituted by the Black-African cultural complex and the structuring elements of the African cosmovision. Semi-structured interviews were carried out from July to September 2013, with six black older people from a terreiro community in Porto Alegre, RS.
Results:
thematic content analysis resulted in the following categories: Ancestry; Belonging: the way to know and practice health; Health knowledge and practices in terreiro communities; and Complementarity: promoting health in the terreiro and traditional medicine and its respective subcategories.
Conclusion:
the study understood the importance of having a knowledge of the practices of African traditions in both the lifestyle and health of the older black population to help with nursing planning and interventions in response to their needs.
Descriptors:
Aged; Health; African Continental Ancestry Group; Nursing; Culture