Poverty and Violence: Challenges for Health Professionals

Abstract

This work presents some results of the study entitled “Poverty and health: many impasses and some ways out” resulting from an analysis of the relationship between health and poverty by social activists, religious workers and health professionals concerning the living conditions in slum areas in the region of Leopoldina. The field work took place in two steps. The first step was comprised of the author’s participation in group interviews called forums, organized by the research group “Civil Surveillance of Health in basic health care - a proposal for an ombudsman in ap3. 1, Rio de Janeiro” developed by ENSP/Fiocruz (Dec 2003 to Dec 2004). These forums debated questions related to an agenda previously drawn up by the presenters. The second step of the field work consisted of individual interviews with health professionals, social workers, nurses and doctors, to gather their take on poverty and health, and the provision of public health care services. From the discussions of the previous activities came an emergent agenda whose theme was violence in the region’s slums. The perspective of Popular Education, as well as the participative methodologies used contributed to the analysis and establishment of convergences between the two sets of field work research data, favoring the institution of the Ombudsman as a form of citizen participation in the formulation of policies on the local level.