In the absence of an address, where does health live? Social determinants and slum populations

Abstract

Qualitative research whose objective was to analyze the influence of the Social Determinants of Health on the health-disease process of the population living in the urban slum area of Campinas, focusing on access to health services, housing (housing, water and sewage conditions) and work (employment and income). Semi-structured interviews with residents and secondary data from a community census prepared by local leaders were used to trace the sociodemographic profile of the population under study. The results found indicate regional inequalities revealed in this occupation, where the condition of poverty, misery, violence, unemployment, lack of access to basic citizenship rights determine the worsening of the health conditions of its residents. Knowing and understanding how Social Determinants of Health act in the health-disease process of the population can contribute with governments, health professionals and other social actors, including public universities, to intervene, mainly with public policies that seek to reduce the impact of these factors and promote the improvement of living conditions and health of these populations, living in social invisibility, subject to prejudice and discrimination of various kinds by society in general.

Keywords: Social Determinants of Health. Health-Disease process. Public Health. Occupied Territory. Family Health Strategy.