Food handlers' lack of knowledge, and misunderstanding of safe food temperatures: An analysis using the theory of social representations.

Comprehension is the ability to understand and be familiar with situations and facts. A critical factor causing foodborne diseases is the inadequate temperature during food storage and handling; food handlers often fail to understand this. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how technical language and everyday knowledge operate in the comprehension of safe food temperatures among food handlers in food services.

Health as science and the biological body as an artifact: the case of Brazil's national TV news program Jornal Nacional.

This article presents the findings of a study of the coverage of health, science and technology during 2012 by the Jornal Nacional, a national television news program in Brazil produced by the Rede Globo de Televisão. A total of 246 news stories addressing health-related topics were analyzed, half of which addressed scientific research, technological innovation and hospital care, and were shown to represent a doctor-centered discourse. The findings also show that 82% of the news stories concerning science and technology advertise products that are about to be introduced onto the market, illustrating the commercial nature of this research.

Public school €™ teachers’ perceptions about mental health.

OBJECTIVE To examine public school teachers' perceptions about general health and mental health, and the way in which they obtained this information. METHODS Qualitative research was conducted with 31 primary and secondary school teachers at a state school in the municipality of Sao Paulo, SP, Southeastern Brazil, in 2010. The teachers responded to a questionnaire containing open-ended questions about mental health and general health.

In the final analysis, are we a consumer society or not? Implications for health.

In this paper, the question of Brazil's insertion today as a country with the characteristics of modern consumer societies is discussed, focusing on the commercialization of the health sector, the segmentation of the health system and the contradictions of the rights to health care in the social context in question. Some research data on these issues broadcast in the National News Bulletins of Globo TV during the year of 2012 are presented, in which the high technology private hospital as a consumer icon, the underfunding of the public health system and the rejection of a poor and deprived Unified Health System are analyzed.

Why do tuberculosis patients look for urgency and emergency unities for diagnosis: a study on social representation.

Objective: To understand the social representations of patients and professionals working in the field of tuberculosis, on the reasons for seeking diagnosis and treatment in the emergency room and not in the primary health care units called Unidades Básicas de Saúde (UBS) or in the health program Programa de Saúde da Família near their residence.

Methods: The survey was conducted in the health services in the municipalities of São Paulo and Guarulhos, Brazil, in hospitals and UBS. We interviewed 20 patients and 20 employees of these units, using the Collective Subject Discourse methodology to analyze their statements.

Social representations of obstetricians and neonatologists about fetal and early neonatal death certificate in the city of São Paulo.

Introduction: The insatisfactory completeness of the variables in the Death Certificate (DC) makes it difficult to obtain specific perinatal mortality indicators.

Objective: To assess the social representation of physicians about the perinatal DC.

Methods: Twenty-five physicians were interviewed in 15 hospitals in the city of São Paulo, in 2009.

[SIM and SINASC: social representation of nurses and professional in administrative sectors who work in hospitals in the city of São Paulo].

Few studies have analyzed the SINASC (Live Birth Information System) and MIS (Mortality Information System) applying qualitative methodology seeking to understand data production processes and contexts. This article aims to study the social representation of health professionals about Live Birth Certificates (LBC) and perinatal Death Certificates (DC). A total of 24 interviews were conducted with nurses and other professionals of 16 Unified Health System (SUS) and non-SUS hospitals of the city of São Paulo in 2009.

[Narratives of intimate partner violence practiced against women].

Research was conducted with women aged 15 to 49 living in an economically vulnerable area of the Brazilian state capital on the experience of victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). The study adopted a qualitative technique called Collective Subject Discourse. During the interviews in their homes between February and July, 195 women reported incidents of violence throughout their lives.

[Community health agents and their educational practices in oral health: a qualitative/quantitative evaluation].

Among the activities performed by the community health agent (CHA), the educational actions are of fundamental importance for the provision of healthcare. Therefore, the scope of this study was to evaluate these aspects in a random sample of 80 CHAs, drawn from 16 Family Health Program Units in Piracicaba, São Paulo State, representing 51.3% of the population studied.

Accessibility to health services by persons with disabilities.

Objective: To analyze the difficulties in accessibility to health services experienced by persons with disabilities.

Methodological Procedures: A qualitative study was performed with individuals who reported having a certain type of disability (paralysis or amputation of limbs; low vision, unilateral or total blindness; low hearing, unilateral or total deafness). A total of 25 individuals (14 women) were interviewed in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, between June and August 2007, responding to questions about transportation and accessibility to health services.

[Discourse of the collective subject, complexity and self-organization].

The aim of the present work is to discuss some consequences of the method called Discourse of the Collective Subject concerning the semantic density of the qualitative data, that implies a significantly and more relevant presence of the collective thought as empirical reality in qualitative researches. Such a presence of the empirical material, associated to the understanding of the collective thought as referent, allows a dialogue of the descriptive and interpretative moment in this variety of research. This in turn alludes to a new possibility that points out to the uncertain and unexpected contributing to a renewed understanding of the nature and processes of the social representations as complex realities.

[The meaning of medical intervention and religious faith for the elderly cancer patient].

This study aimed at identifying the meaning medical intervention and religious faith have for the elderly patient with cancer. A descriptive and qualitative investigation was developed between January 9 and March 28, 2001 in the Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual--Francisco Morato de Oliveira/IAMSPE (Hospital for State Public Servants). The studied sample was not randomized and consisted of 20 elderly men and women with cancer.

[Social representations concerning dengue, dengue vectors, and control activities among residents of São Sebastião on the northern coast of São Paulo State, Brazil].

This study sought to identify people's knowledge on dengue and its vector biology, aimed at promoting a communications channel between technical and lay reasoning in order to foster community involvement in dengue and dengue vector control activities. A survey was conducted in an Aedes aegypti-infested area with dengue transmission in São Sebastião on the northern coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. One hundred interviews were held, with five open questions on topics related to dengue and vector control.

[Knowledge and practices by adolescents in preventing occupational injuries: a qualitative study].

Objective: To describe knowledge and practices adopted by high school students to prevent occupational injuries.

Study Design: The study was carried out in a public school located in São Paulo, in 2003. Fifty-three evening students aged 14 to 21 years old participated the study, they were divided into two groups with and without job experience (32 and 21 students, respectively).

[Social representations of the relationships between plant vases and the dengue vector].

Objective: To investigate how houseplant 'caretakers' represent the relationship between plant vases and breeding sites for the dengue vector, in order to reformulate educational policies.

Methods: The present study was carried out among caretakers from three São Paulo State municipalities in which dengue is known to exist and in which extensive educational activities had been previously conducted. Twenty households from each of the municipalities studied were selected based on larval density evaluation bulletins elaborated by SUCEN (Endemic Disease Control Coordination) and classified as positive or negative for the presence of Aedes aegypti larvae in plant vases.