This thesis is based on a study that was conducted in the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe during the period 1996-1997. The main objective of the study was to identify factors in traditional midwifery that facilitate the vulnerability of both the birthing woman and the traditional birth attendant (TBA) to risks in childbirth. Traditional birth attendants in Zimbabwe, though for a long time a shunned and ridiculed cadre, have always been the custodians of maternal health in the rural areas. TBAs have traditionally relied on intuition and hands-on-experience in their day-to-day practice. With the government's adoption of the upgrading programme for TBAs as a Primary Health Care initiative to reduce infant and maternal mortality, TBAs in Zimbabwe have since incorporated some of the modern obstetric methods into their own traditional practices. There is yet another group of TBAs, who regardless of the training programme, have continued dependence on their experiential and intuitive knowledge for delivery of health. Traditional Birth Attendants, as well as the rural women with whom they share an explanatory model of birthing, were consulted in this study in order to get an emic understanding of risk construction, which in turn would inform intervention strategies. It was hoped that the fusion of these conceptual categories (indigenous with biomedical), would contribute to a body of knowledge which would be a foundation for culturally compelling interventions to reduce risks in traditional birthing practices. As this study unfolded, it became apparent that not only was the women's preference for the TBA determined by cultural forces, but that there were a myriad of additional, contextual forces at play. Macro-processes affecting TBA practices are noted, and issues analyzed from the broader perspective of critical medical anthropology (CMA). / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

There are two independent streams of health care in South Africa: traditional healing and Western medicine. Proposals to formally integrate the two streams have been made by the World Health Organization and by the South African Department of Health. In this study, the philosophical background behind each of the two health care models is discussed, as well as literature on the possible integration of the two systems. It has not been clear if Western-trained health-care practitioners would be prepared to work with traditional healers. The purpose of this study was therefore to examine health care practitioners’ opinions, attitudes, knowledge and experiences with traditional healers, and to determine to what extent these variables would predict their intentions to work with these healers. A Within-Stage Mixed Model design was used, and data were collected using a selfdeveloped questionnaire. A total of 319 health care practitioners from State hospitals and clinics in Gauteng and Limpopo provinces participated in the study. The results of the study revealed significant differences between groups of health care practitioners in terms of their opinions, attitudes, experiences and intentions to work with traditional healers. Psychiatric nurses and psychiatrists showed more positive opinions, more positive attitudes, more knowledge and more willingness to work with traditional healers than do general nurses and physicians. Psychiatric and general nurses also had more experiences with traditional healing than did psychiatrists and physicians. The results also revealed that attitudes, knowledge, opinions and experiences predict Western health care practitioners’ intentions to work with traditional healers, with attitudes being the strongest and experiences the weakest predictors. Health care practitioners’ views of traditional healing were contradictory and ambivalent in many instances. This implies that integration of the two health care systems will be complex, that the current potential to integrate the systems is weak and that such integration can only be realised with considerable effort from all stakeholders. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

This thesis is an ethnographic study of a little documented indigenous group, the Warekena people, who live on the Xié River in north-western Amazonia. Examining the mythic histories of the animate riverscape, my work offers an overview of the emergence of riverside dwelling: starting with a macro view of Xié river lifestyles, I explain how seasonal and distinguishing historic-mythic narratives tie in to wider idioms, and to experiences of social reproduction. I focus on reproductive processes and the perinatal period, highlighting methods used by Xié dwellers to nurture healthy, quality-conscious lifestyles, and I examine Xié aetiologies and pathologies. Mindfulness, or awareness, is viewed as a key component of good health. In this context, healthy childbirth is for the birthing mother an art form, a practice for which her total life experience has prepared her. Childbirth is ranked with such other painful experiences as snakebite, and both childbirth and snakebite are opportunities for personal growth. Infant care is seen through the lens of specific, hands-on techniques that promote mindful states in both the carer and the cared for. Mindfulness emerges as a heuristic device that allows us to scrutinize the Amerindian soul and body, also elucidating soul-loss in the ‘animist’ lived world. I argue that mindfulness is a core characteristic of the ‘cool’ hydrocentric and status-conscious lifestyles of Xié river dwellers, and that it defines what it means to be a person, the Xié way.

Ce mémoire explore le parcours de guérison de pratiquants du Yoga Sivananda dans un contexte de réenchantement du monde. Les répondants ont été recrutés à l'ashram Sivananda de Val-Morin (Québec) qui a été défini comme un territoire transnational et cosmopolite favorisant l'hybridité religieuse et l'accès à des ressources symboliques et thérapeutiques multiples. À travers une approche phénoménologique qui privilégie la subjectivité de l'individu, nous proposons d'identifier les facteurs-clés de guérison propres à chacun des répondants et d'observer comment ils composent avec les univers de sens et les diverses représentations du corps, de la maladie et de la guérison qui circulent dans la société. Nous définirons la place qu'occupe la ressource spirituelle à l'intérieur de ce parcours et comment la ressource biomédicale s'ancre à l'intérieur de la ressource spirituelle. Nous verrons comment les personnes bricolent leur propre système de représentations et s'arrangent pour donner un sens à la maladie et la réinscrire dans une dimension holiste, tout en profitant pour la plupart de la technologie du système biomédical, ceci pour multiplier les chances de guérison. Il a été présumé que le déclenchement des mécanismes de guérison dépend de la subjectivité de la personne et que celle-ci contient – au moins en partie – les clés de sa guérison. Ces clés sont propres à chacun et la recherche démontre que chaque parcours est unique. Aussi, en faisant référence à cette subjectivité, la question principale de ce mémoire est-elle de savoir à quoi les répondant attribuent leur guérison. / This dissertation explores the healing journey of Sivananda yoga practioners in the context of the re-enchantment of the world. All respondents have been recruited at Sivananda Ashram in Val-Morin (Quebec) which has been defined as a transnational cosmopolitan territory that stimulates religious hybridity and promotes access to multiple symbolic and therapeutic resources. Through a phenomenological approach that emphasises the subjectivity of the individual, we propose to identify the key factors of healing proper to each interviewee are identified and to observe how they deal with worlds of meanings and various representations of the body, illness and healing circulating throughout society. We will define the position of the spiritual resource within this journey and observe how the biomedical resource is embedded in this spiritual resource. We are interested in how individuals are building up their own system of representations and manage to find a meaning to their illness and enlarge the scope of it beyond a holistic dimension while taking at the same time advantage of the biomedical technology in order to multiply their chances of healing. In my approach, I assume that the triggering of self-healing mechanisms depends upon the subjectivity of the individuals and that this subjectivity contains the keys of their healing. These keys are proper to each person and the research shows that each journey is unique. So, regarding this subjectivity, the main question of this thesis is to what participants attribute their healing.

L'épidémie de VIH a introduit la question du risque et de la maladie dans les rapports entre les femmes et les hommes. Parmi les stratégies mises en place du niveau individuel au niveau collectif, différentes selon les situations et inscrites dans des représentations infléchies par le contexte culturel, celles relatives aux personnes atteintes par le VIH sont primordiales. Ce « traitement social » est marqué par des différences et des similitudes entre les hommes et les femmes, qui induisent certaines recompositions des rapports entre hommes et femmes. Cette recherche, qui relève simultanément de l'anthropologie médicale et de l'anthropologie du genre, décrit et analyse la dimension du genre dans le traitement social de l'infection à VIH dans le système de soin au Cameroun. L'analyse des représentations de la maladie à travers les messages sanitaires des années 1980 à 2000 révèle les stéréotypes de genre prévalent dans la société camerounaise et leurs usages dans la prévention. L'expérience d'hommes et de femmes vivant avec le VIH dans le système de soin montre ensuite des différences entre leurs perceptions et conduites, qu'ils soient patients ou professionnels de santé, de l'annonce du statut jusqu'à sa révélation au partenaire. Puis c'est à travers l'expérience du traitement antirétroviral que des différences entre les hommes et les femmes apparaissent dans le système de soin. Enfin, l'étude de la gestion de la sexualité, de la procréation et de l'allaitement montre comment les rôles sociaux des hommes et des femmes se construisent de manière particulière pour des personnes vivant avec le VIH, dévoilant un aspect du genre dans la société camerounaise / The HIV epidemic has brought the issue of risk and disease into relations between women and men. Among the strategies set up from the individual to the collective level, varied in different situations and shaped by culturally framed representations, those relating to people living with HIV are crucial. This "social treatment" is marked by differences and similarities between men and women, which induce some reconstructions of the relationships between men and women. This research, which belongs simultaneously to the fields of medical anthropology and anthropology of gender, describes and analyzes the gender dimension of the social treatment of HIV infection in the health care system in Cameroon. The analysis of disease representations through health messages from 1980 to 2000 reveals the gender stereotypes prevalent in the Cameroonian society and their use in prevention. The experience of men and women living with HIV in the health care system then shows the differences between their perceptions and behavior, whether patients or health professionals, from announcement of HIV status by health professionnals to disclosure to partner. Then men and women’s experience of antiretroviral therapy reveal gender dimensions in the health care system. Finally, the study of the management of sexuality, pregnancy and infant feeding shows how the social roles of men and women are built in a special way for people living with HIV, as a window an aspect of gender in Cameroonian society

Dados epidemiológicos têm demonstrado crescente envolvimento da mulher idosa na epidemia de aids, esta constatação foi a motivação para a realização do presente estudo. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, que teve como referencial teórico a Antropologia Médica; para o tratamento dos dados adotou-se o Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Os objetivos do estudo foram: verificar a percepção sobre a epidemia de aids por mulheres com idade igual ou superior a 50 anos, moradoras em uma comunidade de baixa renda no Município de São Paulo; verificar sua percepção de risco à infecção pelo HIV, e se adotam ações preventivas da infecção. Como critérios de inclusão consideraram-se: mulheres com idade igual ou superior a 50 anos e tempo de residência no local do estudo superior a um ano. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista com questões sobre caracterização da mulher e com uma pergunta norteadora. Foram entrevistadas 13 mulheres, que mostraram ter como características comuns: baixa escolaridade, reduzida renda familiar e religiosidade. O tratamento dos dados resultou na construção de 12 discursos narrados na primeira pessoa, nos quais se verifica que as mulheres do grupo cultural estudado apresentam lacunas no conhecimento a respeito da aids e do cotidiano do indivíduo infectado pelo HIV. Atribuem significado religioso à epidemia; não se vêem sob risco de infecção pelo HIV por via sexual, principalmente devido à confiança na fidelidade do parceiro; negam o uso do preservativo nas relações sexuais, embora temam a aids por identificarem-na como uma doença incurável. Valorizam a necessidade de adoção de medidas preventivas à infecção pelo HIV, porém, pelos jovens, considerados mais susceptíveis. A análise dos dados, segundo o referencial teórico adotado, mostrou que a aids, para o grupo de mulheres estudado, não se constitui em preocupação, quando a abordagem recai na transmissão sexual em si própria, fato que alerta para a necessidade de planejamento de ações educativas culturalmente embasadas sobre a infecção pelo HIV nesse segmento. / Epidemic data has been demonstrating the senior woman\'s growing involvement in epidemic aids, this seen, it suited as motivation for the present study\'s realization. It\'s over a qualitative research, which had as theoretical reference the Medical Anthropology; for the data treatment the Collective Subject\'s Speech was adopted. The study objectives were: to verify the perception of 50-year-old women or older on epidemic aids, residents in a community of low income in the Municipal district of São Paulo; to verify their risk perception to the HIV infection, also if preventive actions are adopted. As inclusion criteria were considered: 50 year-old women or older along with time of residence in the place of study superior to one year. The data was collected through subjects\' interview over the woman\'s characterization and with a leading question. 13 women were interviewed that showed to have as common characteristics: low school education, reduced family income and religiosity. The treatment of the data resulted in the construction of 12 first person narrated speeches, which verify that women from the studied cultural group present gaps in the knowledge regarding aids and the HIV infected individual\'s everyday. They attribute religious meaning to the epidemic; not seeing each other under infection risk for HIV under sexual way, mainly due to trust in the partner\'s fidelity; they deny the use of preservatives in their sexual relationships, although they fear aids for identifying it as an incurable disease. They value the need to adopt preventive measures to the HIV infection, however, for the youths, considered more susceptible. The data analysis, according to the adopted theoretical reference, showed that aids, for the studied women\'s group, is not constituted in concern, when the approach relapses in the sexual transmission itself, fact that alerts to the need of educational action planning culturally based on the infection by HIV in that segment.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:21:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Elisa Gonzalez Manso.pdf: 1100752 bytes, checksum: a79f3c4334cb3dc3edbfbcb83487718d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-05 / This research aims to understand the explanatory model and the therapeutic itinerary of a group of patients affected by chronic diseases who are assisted by disease management programs carried out by operators of health plans and identify strategies of self-care that relate with the explanatory model. The thesis that moves this study is that the route that the patient uses for its treatment has deep roots in his own culture, being much larger than the model used by health professionals, also generated by the culture, but restricted by the biomedical vision. The meanings of terms such as health, cure, treatment, disability, dependence and others are not always equal in both models. If the meaning is too different, adherence to the treatment will be impaired, but the patient may still have obtained relief from their suffering. The methodology applied is qualitative, gathered through interviews with people with confirmed previous medical diagnosis of chronic disease who were already undergoing treatment, accompanied by chronic diseases management programs, which, according to the hegemonic healthy model, should know the diseases that affect them with a sufficient degree of information that would allow their full compliance. Because these are people linked to health plans, with a higher socioeconomic strata, they would fit the criteria of information, income, education and access to health care that would turn them into ideal patients and adherent to therapy. Reasons for non-adherence to treatment among these participants are what motivated this research and generated the hypothesis that the therapeutic itinerary of these patients, generated and engraved in their culture, originates from an explanatory model of the illness process much wider than the hegemonic model. So these diseased would present strategies of self-care, as part of this layman model, which allows them to carry on and manage their treatment both within and without the current prevailing model, strategies those that can be seen by health professionals as noncompliance. We believe that this study achieved its objectives, supporting the initial hypothesis of the research, showing that even in a theoretically disciplined group within criteria taken as ideal for joining the biomedical model of illness and treatment, people are immersed in their culture and find loopholes for the exercise of self-care. The work also showed that the crisis of the biomedical model, in this case, stems from the microphysics power relations and from the structural conditions of the health system and the people in the group are able to identify some of these flaws. We hope this research will contribute to this relevant nowadays debate as well as collaborate in the reflections on medicine and health education, broadening the discussion to incorporate the experiences and narratives of this group of patients / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo perceber o modelo explicativo e o itinerário terapêutico de um grupo de doentes acometidos por afecções crônicas assistidos por programas de gerenciamento de doenças realizados por operadoras de planos de saúde e identificar estratégias de cuidar de si que se inter-relacionam com seu modelo explicativo. A tese que move este estudo é de que o itinerário que o doente utiliza para seu tratamento tem profundas raízes na cultura, sendo muito mais amplo do que o modelo dos profissionais de saúde, por sua vez também gerado na cultura, porém restringido pela visão da biomedicina. Os significados de termos como saúde, cura, tratamento, incapacidade, dependência, entre outros, nem sempre são correspondentes em ambos os modelos. Caso o significado seja muito diferente, a adesão ao tratamento ficará prejudicada, mas o doente pode ter obtido alívio para seu sofrimento. A metodologia empregada é qualitativa, realizada mediante entrevistas com pessoas com diagnóstico médico prévio confirmado de doença crônica e que já se encontravam em tratamento, acompanhadas por programas de gerenciamento de doenças crônicas, as quais, segundo o modelo de atenção à saúde hegemônico, deveriam conhecer as doenças que os acometem com um grau de informação suficiente que permitisse sua adesão plena ao tratamento. Por se tratarem de pessoas vinculadas a planos de saúde, portanto de estratos socioeconômicos mais elevados, preencheriam os quesitos de informação, renda, educação e acessibilidade ao sistema de saúde que os transformaria em pacientes ideais e aderentes à terapêutica. O porquê da não adesão ao tratamento entre estes participantes é que despertou esta pesquisa e gerou a hipótese de que o itinerário terapêutico destes enfermos, gerado e inscrito na cultura, origina-se de um modelo explicativo do processo de adoecer mais amplo do que o modelo hegemônico. Estes adoecidos apresentariam assim estratégias de cuidar de si próprios, como parte deste modelo dito leigo, que faz com que convivam e gerenciem seu tratamento tanto dentro quanto à revelia do modelo predominante, estratégias estas que podem ser vistas pelos profissionais de saúde como não adesão. Acreditamos que esta pesquisa atingiu seus objetivos, corroborando a hipótese inicial do trabalho, demonstrando que, mesmo em um grupo teoricamente disciplinado dentro de critérios tidos como ideais para a adesão ao modelo biomédico de adoecimento e tratamento, as pessoas estão imersas na cultura e encontram brechas para o exercício do cuidar de si. O trabalho mostrou ainda que a crise do modelo biomédico, neste caso, advém tanto das relações microfísicas de poder quanto das condições estruturais do sistema de saúde e que as pessoas do grupo conseguem identificar algumas destas falhas. Esperamos que esta pesquisa possa contribuir para este debate tão atual, além de colaborar nas reflexões sobre a medicina e sobre o ensino na saúde, ampliando a discussão ao incorporar as experiências e narrativas deste grupo de enfermos

O diabetes mellitus tipo 1 (DM1) é uma doença crônica que afeta milhares de pessoas, inclusive jovens e crianças. Famílias de crianças com DM1 são influenciadas pelo contexto cultural em que vivem, o qual também influencia as perspectivas dessas famílias sobre as causas da doença, tratamentos e práticas em saúde. O objetivo deste estudo foi interpretar os significados das experiências de famílias de crianças com DM1, a partir do sistema cultural. Para alcançar este objetivo, realizou-se estudo com abordagem metodológica qualitativa, adotando o referencial teórico da Antropologia Médica e a narrativa como método. Após aprovação ética da pesquisa, foram convidadas a participar do estudo doze crianças com DM1, em acompanhamento terapêutico em serviço de saúde localizado no estado de Minas Gerais, e seus familiares, totalizando 43 participantes. A principal técnica de coleta de dados foi a entrevista em profundidade, realizada prioritariamente nos domicílios dos participantes. Na busca pela explicação compreensiva de como as crianças e suas famílias lidam com o DM1, utilizamos os modelos explicativos, por meio dos quais identificamos que a causa, o tratamento e o prognóstico da doença são interpretados e definidos pelas famílias de diferentes maneiras. Como forma de valorização das estórias das crianças com DM1 e suas famílias e de organização dos dados, foram construídas as narrativas individuais de cada família, a partir das entrevistas realizadas com as crianças e seus familiares, e uma síntese narrativa do grupo de famílias. Para a análise dos dados provenientes das narrativas, utilizou-se a análise temática indutiva. Os resultados foram interpretados e apresentados a partir do núcleo temático: \"Vigilância das famílias de crianças com DM1: da rigidez à flexibilidade.\" A síntese narrativa representativa das experiências do grupo, explica o processo de vigilância familiar consequente às mudanças de hábitos e cuidados diários da criança adoecida. As experiências das famílias são construídas e acumuladas ao longo do processo de cuidado das crianças e a qualidade da vigilância familiar, se mais rígida ou mais flexível, está diretamente relacionada ao tempo de interação das famílias com a doença. Com o passar do tempo, as famílias sentem-se cada vez mais seguras para manejar os cuidados, o que as permite transpor a rigidez das próprias regras de cuidado seguidas para o controle da doença, como uma forma de oportunizar a experiência de ser criança sem DM1. Essa decisão familiar de flexibilizar o cuidado desencadeia emoções ambíguas de satisfação e culpa, e essa última é motivadora para o restabelecimento das ações rígidas de vigilância familiar. O significado dessas experiências foi explicado por meio do conceito antropológico da normalidade, vulnerabilidade e experiência moral. A interpretação das narrativas centradas na experiência de um grupo de famílias de crianças com DM1, a partir do sistema cultural, permitiu-nos explicar compreensivamente como a cultura influencia a saúde e o adoecimento, por meio dos significados. A interpretação dos significados das experiências das famílias constitui-se em conhecimento que pode ser aplicado na prática clínica e em pesquisas futuras / Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) is a chronic illness that affects thousands of people, including young people and children. Families of children with DM1 are influenced by the cultural context they live in, which also influences these families\' perspectives on the causes of the disease, treatments and health practices. The objective in this study was to interpret the meanings of the experiences of families of children with DM1 based on the cultural system. To achieve that objective, a qualitative study was undertaken, adopting the theoretical framework of Medical Anthropology and the narrative method. After receiving Institutional Review Board approval, 12 children with DM1 under therapeutic follow-up at a health service located in the state of Minas Gerais were invited to participate together with their family members, totaling 43 participants. The paramount data collection technique was the in-depth interview, mainly held at the participants\' homes. In the attempt to comprehensively explain how the children and their families cope with the DM1, the explanatory models were used, through which we identified that the families interpret and define the cause, treatment and prognosis of the disease in different ways. As a way to value the stories of the children with DM1 and their families and to organize the data, the individual narratives of each family were constructed, based on the interviews held with the children and their relatives, as well as a narrative synthesis of the family group. To analyze the data from the narratives, inductive thematic analysis was used. The results were interpreted and presented based on the core theme: \"Surveillance of families of children with DM1: from strictness to flexibility.\" The narrative synthesis representing the group\'s experiences explains the family surveillance process as a consequence of the changed habits and daily care for the sick child. The families\' experiences are constructed and accumulated throughout the children\'s care process and the quality of the family surveillance, whether stricter or more flexible, is directly related to the length of the families\' interaction with the disease. Over time, the families feel increasingly safe to manage the care, which allows them to overcome the strictness of the care rules followed to control the disease, as a way to permit the experience of being a child without DM1. This family decision to relax the care triggers biased emotions of satisfaction and guilt, and the latter motivates the reestablishment of the strict family surveillance actions. The meaning of these experiences was explained through the anthropological concept of normality, vulnerability and moral experience. The interpretation of the narratives centered on the experience of a group of families of children with DM1, based on the cultural system, allowed us to comprehensively explain how the culture influences the health and disease through the meanings. The interpretation of the meanings of the families\' experiences represents knowledge that can be applied in clinical practice and in future research

This thesis in anthropology investigates how emergency is socially constituted as a named and actionable entity. Specifically, it asks how human values and techno-scientific practices contribute to the constitution of emergency in the context of medical humanitarian intervention. The study considers emergency from an ethnographic perspective, as a group of international medical humanitarian practitioners from the aid group Médecins San Frontières (MSF) come to understand and respond to the 2013 outbreak of armed conflict in South Sudan and the potential for mass starvation among certain groups within that country. Through the method of participant observation, it examines how emergency is understood or constituted at three different conceptual levels: at the level of the individual clinical encounter, the level of population statistics, and the level of political representations of crisis. By extension, it inquires as to how professional formation and moral categories determine appropriate response. The study reveals how values, ethics and conceptions of "the good" are embodied in-yet imperfectly translated through-numerical measures and institutional structures. This reveals a key paradox of medical humanitarianism: that rational, technocratic institutions simultaneously enable and debilitate the goals and means of humanitarian action. This study is based on 11 months of fieldwork (Oct 2013-Sept 2014) with the Amsterdam operational section of MSF. The fieldwork was multi-sited; it included participant observation of MSF activities in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Juba, Leer and Bentiu (South Sudan).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:55:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Elisa Gonzalez Manso.pdf: 1100752 bytes, checksum: a79f3c4334cb3dc3edbfbcb83487718d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-05 / This research aims to understand the explanatory model and the therapeutic itinerary of a group of patients affected by chronic diseases who are assisted by disease management programs carried out by operators of health plans and identify strategies of self-care that relate with the explanatory model. The thesis that moves this study is that the route that the patient uses for its treatment has deep roots in his own culture, being much larger than the model used by health professionals, also generated by the culture, but restricted by the biomedical vision. The meanings of terms such as health, cure, treatment, disability, dependence and others are not always equal in both models. If the meaning is too different, adherence to the treatment will be impaired, but the patient may still have obtained relief from their suffering. The methodology applied is qualitative, gathered through interviews with people with confirmed previous medical diagnosis of chronic disease who were already undergoing treatment, accompanied by chronic diseases management programs, which, according to the hegemonic healthy model, should know the diseases that affect them with a sufficient degree of information that would allow their full compliance. Because these are people linked to health plans, with a higher socioeconomic strata, they would fit the criteria of information, income, education and access to health care that would turn them into ideal patients and adherent to therapy. Reasons for non-adherence to treatment among these participants are what motivated this research and generated the hypothesis that the therapeutic itinerary of these patients, generated and engraved in their culture, originates from an explanatory model of the illness process much wider than the hegemonic model. So these diseased would present strategies of self-care, as part of this layman model, which allows them to carry on and manage their treatment both within and without the current prevailing model, strategies those that can be seen by health professionals as noncompliance. We believe that this study achieved its objectives, supporting the initial hypothesis of the research, showing that even in a theoretically disciplined group within criteria taken as ideal for joining the biomedical model of illness and treatment, people are immersed in their culture and find loopholes for the exercise of self-care. The work also showed that the crisis of the biomedical model, in this case, stems from the microphysics power relations and from the structural conditions of the health system and the people in the group are able to identify some of these flaws. We hope this research will contribute to this relevant nowadays debate as well as collaborate in the reflections on medicine and health education, broadening the discussion to incorporate the experiences and narratives of this group of patients / Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo perceber o modelo explicativo e o itinerário terapêutico de um grupo de doentes acometidos por afecções crônicas assistidos por programas de gerenciamento de doenças realizados por operadoras de planos de saúde e identificar estratégias de cuidar de si que se inter-relacionam com seu modelo explicativo. A tese que move este estudo é de que o itinerário que o doente utiliza para seu tratamento tem profundas raízes na cultura, sendo muito mais amplo do que o modelo dos profissionais de saúde, por sua vez também gerado na cultura, porém restringido pela visão da biomedicina. Os significados de termos como saúde, cura, tratamento, incapacidade, dependência, entre outros, nem sempre são correspondentes em ambos os modelos. Caso o significado seja muito diferente, a adesão ao tratamento ficará prejudicada, mas o doente pode ter obtido alívio para seu sofrimento. A metodologia empregada é qualitativa, realizada mediante entrevistas com pessoas com diagnóstico médico prévio confirmado de doença crônica e que já se encontravam em tratamento, acompanhadas por programas de gerenciamento de doenças crônicas, as quais, segundo o modelo de atenção à saúde hegemônico, deveriam conhecer as doenças que os acometem com um grau de informação suficiente que permitisse sua adesão plena ao tratamento. Por se tratarem de pessoas vinculadas a planos de saúde, portanto de estratos socioeconômicos mais elevados, preencheriam os quesitos de informação, renda, educação e acessibilidade ao sistema de saúde que os transformaria em pacientes ideais e aderentes à terapêutica. O porquê da não adesão ao tratamento entre estes participantes é que despertou esta pesquisa e gerou a hipótese de que o itinerário terapêutico destes enfermos, gerado e inscrito na cultura, origina-se de um modelo explicativo do processo de adoecer mais amplo do que o modelo hegemônico. Estes adoecidos apresentariam assim estratégias de cuidar de si próprios, como parte deste modelo dito leigo, que faz com que convivam e gerenciem seu tratamento tanto dentro quanto à revelia do modelo predominante, estratégias estas que podem ser vistas pelos profissionais de saúde como não adesão. Acreditamos que esta pesquisa atingiu seus objetivos, corroborando a hipótese inicial do trabalho, demonstrando que, mesmo em um grupo teoricamente disciplinado dentro de critérios tidos como ideais para a adesão ao modelo biomédico de adoecimento e tratamento, as pessoas estão imersas na cultura e encontram brechas para o exercício do cuidar de si. O trabalho mostrou ainda que a crise do modelo biomédico, neste caso, advém tanto das relações microfísicas de poder quanto das condições estruturais do sistema de saúde e que as pessoas do grupo conseguem identificar algumas destas falhas. Esperamos que esta pesquisa possa contribuir para este debate tão atual, além de colaborar nas reflexões sobre a medicina e sobre o ensino na saúde, ampliando a discussão ao incorporar as experiências e narrativas deste grupo de enfermos