Ciência & saúde coletiva
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Ciência & saúde coletiva · Jul 2008
[The relevance of qualitative techniques in biomedical research].
On observing how qualitative and quantitative studies are reported in the biomedical literature it becomes evident that, besides the virtual absence of the former, they are presented in different ways. Authors of qualitative studies seem to need almost invariably to explain why they choose a qualitative approach whereas that does not occur in quantitative studies. This paper takes Ludwik Fleck's comparative epistemology as a means of exploring those differences empirically, illustrating on the basis of two studies dealing with different aspects of biomedical practices how qualitative methods can elucidate a variety of questions pertaining to this field. The paper concludes presenting some structural characteristics of the biomedical field which on one hand, would not be explored properly without employing qualitative methods and, on the other hand, can help understanding the little value given to qualitative techniques in this area.
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Ciência & saúde coletiva · Apr 2008
[Factors associated with self-medication for toothache: analysis using pharmacy personnel in the city of Recife, PE].
This paper aims to describe the factors associated with self-medication related to toothache in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. The investigation was designed as a cross-sectional study. The sample was random selected among the pharmacies registered in the Regional Pharmacy Council of Pernambuco and distributed over the Health Districts. ⋯ One hundred and seventy nine professionals from 120 establishments were interviewed. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire. According to the results, 67.0% of the interviewees had attended individuals relating orofacial pain in the last six months, among them 91.6% relating toothache; 83.7% male and 73.3% female personnel had indicated medications for toothache without prescription; personnel with high-school level indicated more medications without prescription (48.6%) The study concludes that to buy pain relievers without prescription including for toothache is common and reinforces the need of informing the population about the correct use of these medicaments.
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Ciência & saúde coletiva · Nov 2007
[Implementation of Brazil's Family Allowance Program: experiences at São Francisco de Itabapoana and Duque de Caxias].
This paper discuss the findings of a study examining the Implementation of Brazil's Family Allowance Program in Rio de Janeiro at São Francisco de Itabapoana and Duque de Caxias, conducted in 2004 - 2005 with the support of the Brazilian Science and Technology Research and Development Council (CNPq) and collaboration among ENSP-FIOCRUZ, UFF and UERJ. Its purpose is to analyze this implementation process and local management practices, identifying the main contours of this program. An examination of its political and institutional dynamics, accountability mechanisms, intersectoral arenas, investments in healthcare and education, and intergovernmental arrangements helps outline some of the conflicts, tensions and challenges associated with conditional cash transfers as a core policy in the battle against poverty and social inequalities.
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Ciência & saúde coletiva · Jul 2007
[Small hospitals and their insertion in Brazil's National Health System (SUS)].
This paper analyses small hospitals (less than fifty beds) in Brazil, in terms of their geographical distribution, legal status, types of wards and units, structures and service production. Under a directive published in April 2004, the Ministry of Health contracts and encourages these hospitals to adapt their profiles to the new roles assigned to them in the health system; consequently, data from December 2005 is compared to data from April 2004. ⋯ Small hospitals represent 62% of Brazil's hospital network, with 18% of current beds. Located mainly in upstate municipalities with less than 300,000 inhabitants, they offer limited complexity and technological density, with a low occupancy rate (32.8%). There are no changes in their production profiles between 2004 and 2006, due to the brief period since the implementation of Brazil's small hospitals policy in 2004, which has not been supported by the corresponding investment plans and human resources policies. This is a strategic hospital segment for providing all-round care in the Brazil's National Health System, due to its nationwide capillarity, endowed with ample potential for providing primary care while ensuring seamless links with other levels of complexity.
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Ciência & saúde coletiva · May 2007
[Information and information technology in health: contemporary health kaleidoscope].
This essay is based on the assumption that current practices and knowledge of Information and Information Technology in Health are unable to deal with the complexity of the health/disease/care processes and contemporary problems that must be overcome, curbing the expansion of the response capacity of the Brazilian State. It aims to further explore the understanding of the roots and determining factors behind these constraints, analyzing alternatives for confronting them that depend less on location-specific initiatives in the field of information and more - among others - on the adoption of new benchmarks, starting with the meaning and concept of Health. It identifies the existence of an 'information and information technology interfield' that arises from an epistemology based on a transdisciplinary approach, as well as the consolidation of a political and historical process of institutional construction, an area endowed with power and relevance: a political-epistemological interfield. The analysis goes on through an exploratory study of the social, political and epistemological processes found in the historical construction health information networks established by Science and Technology in health, as well as by healthcare systems and services, in addition to social, political and economic information.