Epilepsia: um estudo sobre as representações sociais da epilepsia e a procura por cuidados médicos convencionais nas cidades de Maputo e Matola

Abstract

In this monograph, entitled Epilepsy: a study on Social Representations and the demand for health services, in the city of Matola and Maputo", we seek to carry out a sociological study around the social representations of Epilepsy and the demand for medical care, at the level of city of Maputo and Matola. The general objective was to understand the social representations that are shared in everyday interactions around Epilepsy and the influence they exert on the search for health care. As a way of materializing the intended objective, we used theoretical lenses by Moscovici (1978) and Berger and Luckman (1958), using the following concepts as tools for capturing reality: social representations, Epilepsy, disease, health and culture. Regarding methodological aspects, we adopted a qualitative approach, having used literary review and semi-structured interviews for data collection. The results reveal three ways of representing epilepsy: epilepsy as a normal disease, as a traditional disease and as a supernatural disease. These forms of representation of the disease have direct impacts on the choice of treatment mechanisms, and the general tendency is to create an unfavorable situation for the immediate demand for hospital care, valuing the use of treatments based on traditional and religious ideas.