O itinerário terapêutico de pessoas convivendo com HIV

Abstract

Considering the transformation of the natural history of HIV disease, from acute and deadly to chronic and manageable – after developing a more effective treatment since the mid 1990’s – it is relevant to discuss the implications in the individual trajectories of this disease in everyday life of those who bear it. To study these trajectories, in the lines that mix social sciences with health sciences, there are proposals for the analysis of therapeutic itineraries. These, configured by users in search of answers to their illnesses, are built from the field of the subjective experience of illness to the objective features of people and places relevant to the process of searching healing and care. This qualitative study aimed to know the therapeutic itinerary of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS treated at the Unified Health System in Juiz de Fora city, and analyze the meanings attributed by these people to their illness and care processes. The scenario was the SUS outpatient clinics of the Specialized Treatment Unit in Juiz de Fora, and the outpatient clinic for infectious and parasitic diseases of the Health Care Center, Federal University of Juiz de Fora. Participants were men and women over 18 years old, HIV carriers, users of these services and non-residents in the city, who agreed to participate. Data was collected through interviews and analyzed through the content analysis technique. Based on the narratives, the following discussion categories were built: 1) Subjects and perceptions of illness; and 2) Therapeutic itineraries. Individual constructions on the disease process, from diagnosis to therapy and their implications in everyday life were observed, as well as the comings and goings in the system and implications in the history of individuals. Paths of individuals who designed these narratives emerged from the itineraries of people living with HIV. Themes are the impact of the diagnosis, reflections about the disease, coping strategies, ways to seek information, pilgrimages and how to enter the healthcare system, the implications of cost and access, management of treatment and the importance of relations ties. Through the issues underlying the discussion, one can see the frailty and strength in health care for people with HIV, as well as the approach of a compression of the experience of individuals living in that reality.