A VISAO DOS PROF NA SH

2617

The standpoint of professionals on the presence and demands of men on the healthcare services: perspectives for the analysis of the implementation of the Comprehensive Healthcare Policy for Men

Daniela Riva Knauth 1
Márcia Thereza Couto 2
Wagner dos Santos Figueiredo 3

1

Departamento de Medicina
Social, Faculdade de
Medicina, Universidade
Federal do Rio Grande do
Sul. Rua Ramiro Barcelos
2400, Agronomia. 90035003 Porto Alegre RS. [e-mail] 2
Departamento de Medicina
Preventiva, Faculdade de
Medicina, Universidade de
São Paulo
3
Departamento de
Medicina, Centro de
Ciências Biológicas e da
Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Carlos

Abstract In 2009, the Brazilian Comprehensive
Healthcare Policy for Men (PNAISH) was launched in Brazil, seeking to reduce morbidity and mortality in this population group. This article strives to analyze the conceptions that health professionals have about the specific demands and behaviors of the male population served by the healthcare services. The data analyzed are part of a larger research project, the objective of which was to evaluate the initial actions of the implementation of PNAISH. Ethnographic observations in 11 health services and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 health professionals. From the perspective of health professionals, the presence of men in the healthcare services is still limited. According to them, it is comprised of two types of clients: workers and the elderly. The male behavior characteristics – haste, objectivity, fear and resistance – and the difficulty faced by health services in receiving this population are the main factors that drive men away from health services. Although the concept of gender is central to PNAISH, it is only triggered by healthcare professionals in order to justify the social standards expected in terms of men’s behavior. The attribution of men’s behavior to cultural factors ultimately obscures the relations of power that underlie gender