ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to describe the understanding of health and illness within the culture of women living in a favela (urban slum) in southeastern Brazil. The methodology described by Spradley structured the study. Interviews were conducted with 10 informants, and multiple interviews were conducted with the key informant. Analysis yielded a taxonomic structure for the domains of health and illness. Six components play a part in both health and illness: cleanliness, nutrition, doctor visits, herbal remedies (tomar cha), sympathetic magic, and spirituality. Attention to the six components is believed to be necessary in maintaining health. The indigenous components of health can be integrated into health teaching to enhance correspondence between nursing care and the worldview of favela residents.
Subject(s)
Disease/ethnology , Health , Social Class , Urban Population , Women's Health , Brazil , Female , Health Behavior/ethnology , HumansABSTRACT
Tobacco use is responsible for more deaths in the United States than any other factor. Nurses are in a unique position to convey life-saving messages to clients regarding tobacco use. To gauge the type and extent of tobacco-related background knowledge acquired by nurses in the course of their education, the Nurses' Committee of the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS) surveyed 70 nursing programs in the state of Illinois. The number of lecture hours spent on tobacco-related issues was greater in LPN programs than in either associate or baccalaureate degree programs, and instruction was scattered throughout the curriculum of each program. Most schools reported heavy reliance on adult medical-surgical textbooks to convey tobacco-related content. The most recent editions of the textbooks used by the schools were reviewed, and they also were found to adopt a scattered approach, with a disappointing lack of depth regarding the hazards of tobacco. It is recommended a single course be identified as responsible for relaying tobacco-related content and information supplied by general medical-surgical textbooks be supplemented by materials drawn from other sources.
