O HIV na terceira idade: o lugar designado ao idoso nas políticas públicas em HIV/aids e as concepções de profissionais de saúde acerca desta problemática

Abstract

Considering the notable increase in the number of cases of infection by HIV/aids in senior citizens, the myths and prejudices regarding the sexuality of such people and their difficulties in accessing health services, the issue of such investigation on social psychology presents its social and scientific relevance. The present master‘s degree research had as its goal to investigate the public policies on HIV/aids aimed to senior citizens, analyzing their discourses and the knowledge/power devices that constitute them, discussing the conceptions by health care professionals who work at the Specialized Assistance Service (SAE, in Portuguese) and at the Family health Strategy (ESF, in Portuguese) in the city of Juiz de Fora, as it refers to aids among senior citizens and their professional actions regarding such policies. The information was gathered by means of a document and field survey, contemplating information about public policies on HIV/aids of the Health Ministry aimed at the senior population and the conceptions of health care professionals who work at the Specialized Assistance Service (SAE, in Portuguese) and at the Family health Strategy (ESF, in Portuguese) in the city of Juiz de Fora. Data analysis, supported by the theoretical reference of Michel Foucault, had as its fundamental methodological resource the discourse analysis, attempting to comprehend the enunciation games and the discourse formations which permeate and constitute the public policies and the conceptions by the health care professionals. Through the research it was possible to detect a great lack of public policies of prevention of assistance specific to the matter of aids among senior citizens, which has resulted in direct implications regarding the conceptions and practices of the health care professionals, since their actions are intrinsically tied to the guidelines by the Health Ministry. Such practices, by not prioritizing the preventive and assistance aspects referring to HIV/aids among senior citizens, leave such issues ever more invisible to society‘s competent sectors.