Cultural Differences Between Health Professionals and Clients on Nervousness: From Distance to Comprehension of Diversity

Abstract

This paper’s goal is to draw a picture based on the publications on the nervousness, hegemonic cultural code prevailing among the lower social classes, to simultaneous refer to physical and mental suffering. Such health condition constitutes an important demand faced by public health services.
The used methodology was a non exhaustive bibliographic review, concentrated in the most important authors in the field, as well as their own reference sources.
Conclusions point out to the differences between the concepts of body, pain and suffering of the medical-psychological conventional approach and the concept of nervousness, hegemonic among the popular classes, users of public health services in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Brazil. Comprehension and respect for the differences between these two cultural codes are sine qua non conditions to make health professionals and their clientele closer.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />