Abstract

PEREIRA, Maria Helena Guerra Gomes  and  COSTA, Fortunato. Self-care in HIV-positive women . Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2006, vol.7, n.2, pp.255-269. ISSN 1645-0086.

The present article aims at studying self-care as a theme that reveals the process of subjectivity construction in six HIV-positive women, between 20 and 50 years of age, with low income, who take part in an NGO support program. It is a qualitative study, in which the focal group interview was used. Four meaning categories were construed and enabled the understanding of the difficulties of those women regarding self-care. Such categories were: Self-care and social inclusion; Kill and die; Information by itself is not enough, and Guilt and responsibility. The study points to the need to better understand the life projects which both constitute and are constituted by the female identity in the present time, especially regarding low-income women, in order to identify and intervene with the repetition of exclusion discourses.

Keywords : Autonomy; HIV/AIDS; Self-care; Subjectivity.

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