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[Health care at home setting: social interaction and daily life]
I Hernández Tezoquipa1, M Arenas Monreal, R Valde Santiago
1Centro de Investigaciones en Sistemas de Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Mor., México.
Objective:
To explore the boundaries and agents which make up women's knowledge about health care.
Methods:
A qualitative study was carried out in 4 regions in Mexico. Forty middle-aged women (between 35 and 65 years old) were interviewed and their responses analyzed.
Results:
The findings of this study point out to the relationship of women and their different social interactions with their health care practice. Among these interactions are: the contact with health services (which shapes the way women take care of their own health and their family); mass media (particularly television); use of medicines; traditional healers; knowledge acquired from their grandparents, mothers, and peers; and women's own experience while taking care of their family. Health care at home setting is a mixture of traditional healing practices and the conventional medical practices disseminated among the population.
Conclusion:
The different social interactions in which women are involved make up the way Mexican women take care of their own health and their family.