Culture circle on mental health indigenization strategies with indigenous peoples of Ceará

Abstract

Conceptions about mental health vary, as they are crossed by sociocultural, historical, material and symbolic aspects that organize the realities of different societies around the world. In this sense, the health-disease process permeates socio-symbolic aspects, influenced by trust, knowledge and care that circulate and give new meaning in the established structure of an organized community group. When it comes to indigenous peoples, although there is no single indigenous identity, as there are sociocultural differences that distinguish each ethnic group, they generally understand changes in health as a result of manifestations culminated by spiritual and natural forces. The present study aims to present processes of indigenization of mental health with indigenous peoples of Ceará. Its purpose is to express experiences of conversation circles articulated from the Freirian culture circle, from a perspective that aims for health practices that are decolonial, privileging village knowledge. This is qualitative, basic and descriptive research, of the action research type. The study addresses the experience of 7 conversations about mental health in different indigenous villages located in rural communities in Ceará. The Circles were recorded in audio format. Then, the dialogues that occurred were transcribed and detailed using Content Analysis by Laurence Bardin (2011). From the analysis of the information produced, three categories emerged, namely: conceptions about indigenous mental health, structural violence as a factor of suffering, SUS operations in indigenous territories. These were central elements in collective constructions in culture circles and are essential in the discussion of indigenous health. Therefore, it is necessary to understand populations' conceptions of health, considering their social, cultural and political aspects. Therefore, we can make popular knowledge an ally of scientific knowledge, resulting in the creation of new knowledge, which will enable a new vision of the health-disease binomial.