Concepções de saúde e doença em comunidades umbandistas de Uberaba-MG/Brasil

Abstract

The theme of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) in the field of health has been increasingly prominent, forming a network of knowledge both from the scientific point of view and the construction of professional practices that consider this dimension in the line of care. Umbanda is a religion considered genuinely Brazilian. The umbanda terreiros (specific place for the religious ritual) are spaces that receive consultations with several complaints, among them those related to health and disease, so that, from the perspective of health anthropology, such equipment can be associated with a popular system of care. Based on this consideration, the purpose of this Dissertation was to know the conceptions about health and disease processes in Umbandist communities of the city of Uberaba, MG/Brazil. In order to meet this general objective, this Dissertation was divided into two empirical studies, qualitative, exploratory and cross sectional, based on ethnopsychology and health anthropology. In both studies the field diary and semi-structured interviews were used, later audiographed and transcribed in full and literally, submitted to the thematic content analysis. Study 1 aimed to understand the meanings about health-disease processes, specifically related to psychic illness, produced by mediums of incorporation. Seven incorporation mediums were interviewed between 26 and 58 years old, members of a terreiro of the city of Uberaba / MG, Brazil. The conceptions of health brought by these mediums go through both the relational health model and the ontological model. It was pointed out that the terreiro centralizes the health-disease process, taking care of those who care (mediums) and also those who seek care (consultants), in a perspective that must be understood in its complexity and potentiality for completeness. Study 2, in turn, aimed to investigate the conceptions of health and illness produced by saint keepers of umbanda terreiros. Ten saint keepers from the city of Uberaba, aged between 40 and 76, participated. The average time of performance as a leader was 18.4 years, ranging from five to 43 years. It was observed that the leaders maintain a constant process of care within the community, outside the pre- established working hours, and also that the service to the consultants goes beyond the mediumistic passes, with commitment that involves the personal maturation and the promotion of a biopsychosocial care. It can be concluded from the studies carried out that the umbanda terreiro occupies an important position in the sense of offering shelter and care to the reference community. The workers of these spaces, mediums and saint keepers, have a strong commitment to this offer of care, considering that the attention must be integral and also dialogue with the knowledge transmitted in the formal health equipment. Thus, not only an integration between the formal and popular systems, but also the possibility of accommodating according to the need of those seeking support and considering their universe of references and beliefs. The care process is not directed only to those who seek support in the terreiro, but also to the psychics and caretakers, so that in the umbanda one can not dissociate these agents in the health and illness process, which strengthens the discourse around a care, in fact, humanized and integral.