A trajetoria de mulheres portadoras das lesões por esforços repetitivos

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2003

RESUMO

The objective of this study is to reconstruct the working trajectory of individuals suffering from Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI), based on the reports of four therapeutic groups conducted at the Worker?s Healthcare Referral Center in the State of Sao Paulo (Centro de Referência em Saúde do Trabalhador do Estado de São Paulo), between 1995 and 1997. These groups bring considerations about their relationship with their family, relatives and friends, with their company and workmates, with the Social Welfare and Healthcare services, as well as the impact of the disease on their daily routine. This is an exploratory-descriptive study. The recurring themes and the main issues of the meetings were identified, and fragments of speeches that synthesize the discussions were transcribed in order to create a body of ideas, a collective discourse. Forty-eight workers participated in the groups (forty-two of them women). The great majority of them were chronic patients who had been away from work for over two years. They came from the service and the manufacturing industries, having worked in functions such as cashiers, manual laborers, computer and telephone operators and receptionists. From the women?s reports it is possible to observe that, as in the literature, these injuries are focused on jobs traditionally considered as feminine. We can conclude that for these groups, the RSI is not a matter of genre, but of work distribution. The injuries occur due to the way these women are exploited, the effort they make to fulfill demands for productivity and competitiveness and the way they submit themselves to the rules and norms imposed by companies. The male participants experience analog situations, differentiating in the relation with the housework. The women feel betrayed by the company and have an inconstant support from their family and friends, who do not understand their disease as a chronic disease, since it rarely displays outward signs. At the Social Welfare and Healthcare Institutions, from which they expected orientation and help to solve the problem, they only find poor service, lack of adequate information and disrespect. They claim a service that treats them as human beings in a bio-psychosocial dimension, that comforts them in their suffering, that listens to their complaints of pain, with professionals able to explain their health problem to them, as well as the adequate treatment and prognosis. What they want is to establish a relationship of partnership with the healthcare professionals in order to benefit from this interaction, lessening their suffering. The constant pain is the reason for the physical and mental suffering, which interferes in their relationships, sense of humor, self-assessment and in their views of the future. They have many difficulties in overcoming this condition and finding alternatives for their daily routine. They feel incapable, restricted and impotent because of their present condition

ASSUNTO(S)

genero mulher e trabalho saude e trabalho lesões por esforços repetitivos

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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