Difficulties faced by indigenous people during the stay in an Indigenous Health Center in the Amazon region/Brazil

Abstract

The National Policy of Health Care to the Indigenous Peoples (PNASI) was established by the Ministry of Health restructuring the Primary Care to Indigenous Health, following the principles and guidelines from the Unified Health System (SUS). This study aims to identify the difficulties faced by the indigenous peoples during the stay in the Indigenous Health Center (Casai) in Santarém (PA), in the Amazon region. It is an exploratory qualitative study, whose approach was through semi-structured interviews, recorded and transcribed, with 15 indigenous people from five ethnic groups, assisted by the Casai (Mawayana, Tunayana, Wai-wai, Tiriyó and Katwena), with help from a translator acquainted with the dialects. We used the content analysis arising from thematic categories: the difficulties faced during the adaptation period in the Casai/Santarém, the feeling about leaving the indigenous land and the perspectives regarding the improvements during the stay. We consider that, despite the increasing changes and advances in indigenous health in Brazil, improvements that can truly meet the health peculiarities of each ethnic group are necessary.