Ana Helena Rotta Soares

Qualidade de vida de crianças e adolescentes: uma revisão bibliográfica

The scope of this article was to analyze Brazilian scientific articles that assess the quality of life related to the health of children and adolescents. The databases consulted were SciELO and Bireme involving a total of 30 articles published between 1990 and 2008. The articles confirmed the predominance of quantitative methodologies (70%) with a high incidence of applications of HRQL (66.7%) and generic texts (28.6%). The concept of quality of life was evaluated from two standpoints: in the context of scientific research and as part of the desired results of healthcare and public policy. This construct is presented from a multidimensional perspective, embracing the social, psychological, physical and individual dimensions, which is based on the premise that the individuals themselves must assess their own quality of life. The article draws attention to the need to create and use instruments of quality of life for children and adolescents that enhance their perspective about their health processes using appropriate tools for each phase of development. The assessment of quality of life should be incorporated in clinical assessment since chronic illness has repercussions in the many dimensions of the life.

A enurese em criancas e seus significados para suas famílias: abordagem qualitativa sobre uma intervencão profissional em saúde

Objectives: to discuss perception and meanings by families to child related enuresis through a social and anthropological perspective in the context of issues identified in the explanatory models of disease. Methods: experience report, based on semi-structured interviews performed with twenty four (24) families/caretakers of children with enuresis. Results: families of patients with enuresis expressed the need of defining the disease in a subjective manner, attempting to understand it through the feelings that it unleashes, of the changes in behavior and effects caused in other people by this disease. It was determined that enuresis is grouped in two overlapping fields: the one holding the child responsible for his or her enuresis and external factors such as the family environment and economic and social situation. Conclusions: it is recommended that healthcare professionals be aware of the risk of the biomedical regulation of their speech for it interferes with the understanding and the development of adequate treatment. Healthcare professionals should be informed on the possibility of child abuse related to enuresis and the discussion of possible strategies when working with this type of patient.

A qualidade de vida de jovens portadores de espinha bífida brasileiros e norte-americanos

The purpose of the present research is to explore and describe the quality of life of adolescents in two different cultural environments, the Brazilian and the North American. The point of reference of the investigation is the dimension encompassing the concept of quality of life. This qualitative research utilized semi-structured interviews and focal groups in two health-care units specialized in the care of youths with spina bifida, one in Brazil and another in the USA. The discourses reflected the need for more comprehensive categories of quality of life, not pulverizing the life experience. The results reveal inequality in the interactions between the healthy and the disabled and show that the stigma permeates all dimensions of the life of these individuals, interfering in their social inclusion, as well as in their subjective construction and self-esteem. Two fields of reference were identified for the concept of quality of life: (1) the micro-political that refers to social values, beliefs and expectations that are created through face to face encounters; and (2) the macro-political referring to the public universe, democracy and human rights.