Social representations on health and environment for the Family Health Strategy teams

Abstract

Currently, it is well known that issues involving health are related to several determinants, among which the environment should be highlighted. In this sense, the relation between health and environment is an important aspect to be considered, especially in the practices of workers within the Family Health Strategy (FHS) teams. The objective of this study was to know the social representations about health and environment for Family Health Strategy teams. This is a qualitative, descriptive-exploratory study, based on the social representations theory. Data were collected from February to June 2016, in a municipality located in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul State, through documentary research and semi-structured interviews. Overall, 19 Family Health Strategy workers participated in this study. The data were analyzed according to thematic content analysis, seeking the central nucleus of social representation and the peripheral elements. From the analysis of the data the following representation was outlined: The salubrity of the territory. The peripheral elements related with representation are: water, municipal solid waste, and agrochemicals and atmospheric pollution. We concluded that the understanding of the relationship between health and environment is intrinsically related to the damages the environment can bring to health.