<b>The role of beliefs and perceptions on the health-illness process</b> - doi: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v11i5.17061

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze women’s population according to socio-economic characteristics, awareness to health, search for health care, experiences when using the health care system, and beliefs and attitudes related to the health prevention practice. The population of this cross-sectional study comprised 654 women from 10 to 65 years of age, from a selected area in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. The Epidemiology was the scientific basis for the health diagnosis and it was used during the first phase of the study. The access to the subjective information found subsidies for its analysis from the methods and techniques proposed by the Social Cognition Theory, used in the second phase of the study. According to the results of the first phase, the family income was the unique determinant factor for the search for preventive care. However, the second phase´s data showed that the women´s beliefs and attitudes regarding health were similar, independently of the family income. Despite of this fact, the family income was shown to be as a real barrier in the process of searching for care, determining inequalities in health.