Redes sociais de usuários portadores de tuberculose: a influência das relações no enfrentamento da doença

Abstract

Social network is a polysemic concept used to study the social relations established by the subject with individuals and / or organizations making possible the construction of relationship networks through links and connections. This methodology provides the configuration and the participants role, by using metrics and graphical representations in a quantitative perspective, which may or may not be associated to a qualitative approach. This study aims at the social networks of people with tuberculosis attended in a primary unit care in Program Area 3.1 of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Objectives: To study the social networks of users with tuberculosis in order to understand how the relationships influence the coping of the disease. Specific objectives: to describe the social network configurations of tuberculosis users followed in a primary health care unit in A.P.3.1 in the treatment of tuberculosis with the family health team; and analyze the social networks of users with tuberculosis accompanied in a basic care unit in the A.P. 3.1. This is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Seven (7) users with tuberculosis were interviewed. For the collection of data, we chose the narrative interview and the socio-demographic questionnaire. The data were collected from April to May 2017. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee according to opinion nº 1,908,477. The material obtained in the interviews was submitted to content analysis of the thematic type, generating the following categories: perception of symptoms and the search for care; the role of the primary network in health care; secondary network and its role in tuberculosis control; and the various capitals at stake in the network. The theoretical support for the analysis was based on the concepts of Pierre Bourdieu's social theory: social, cultural and economic capital. The analysis of the data was presented in two stages: the first one will be the description of each interviewee, individual and collective analysis of the users' social networks, and the other in the presentation of the narratives and categories. Results and discussion of data: The study of users' social networks allowed to understand the search for health care as a process that involves several aspects that act in a distinct way on individuals. The perception of the first symptoms of tuberculosis did not generate the immediate search for the family health unit. The first choice of care of the user after the use of home medicine or self-medication was the urgent care services. The primary networks demonstrated their potential as real influencers for the search for health care, acting in all stages of the process of illness and coping with the disease. On the other hand, the secondary networks showed their relevance from TB control actions, especially the TDO. The understanding of the economic, cultural and social capital concepts made it possible to understand the mobilization of resources in social networks. It was concluded that studying the social networks of users with tuberculosis allowed us to glimpse the potential of the network structure for health care.