The self-confrontation with own time as an analytical perspective in the study of relations between time and health...

Sociological studies point out a malaise resulting from the use of time in contemporary societies. The present study aimed at developing a device that combines a quantitative instrument on the use of time, with a qualitative interview technique, seeking to reveal possible relations between time and health. A field research was conducted with nurses of a hospital in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro. The subjects registered the length of time activities took to be carried out during an entire week in an activity notebook adapted from time use diaries. Interviews were inspired in self-confrontation, as workers observed a coloured image that describes time taken from the register of activities. The device allowed investigate how workers perceive this time and how they relate it to health, considered in an ample sense. Among the issues brought up by the group as source of discomfort and physical malaise, are the overcharge of professional work and acknowledgement of too much time for the others that are linked to too little time for oneself with a strong component in gender relations. The strength of this device as investigative path of relations of time and health indicates its adequacy in studies with other groups of workers.