The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil in Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic

This article aims to analyze how the indigenous communities of Brazil have organized autonomous actions and strategies to confront the Covid-19 pandemic based on the articulation among their own historical experiences, their health conceptions, partnerships with scientific communities and other segments of society that support the indigenous struggle. The research articulates the political and theoretical modernity/coloniality/decoloniality movement with indigenous experiences and conceptions of health, body/spirituality and territory. For this task, we adopted an undisciplined methodology based on conversation, solidarity and analysis of discussions, sites, lives, bibliographic productions and official documents prepared by indigenous organizations and partner entities. The research has pointed out that the situation of greater vulnerability of indigenous populations is not only due to biological factors. Also, indigenous people have denounced the invasion of their territories, racism, the lack of sanitation policies, food insecurity, the circulation of people not belonging to the community (missionaries, miners, loggers, army), the difficult access to hospitals and the precariousness of the necessary resources for individual and collective asepsis have worsen the spread and lethality of the virus. Likewise the current indigenous struggle in this pandemic scenario, this article is not limited to a health discussion, yet it aims to contribute to think about the relationship between the pandemic and the dissemination of anti-democratic policies that simultaneously affect the right to health and the territory of these populations.

Reflecting on environment to understand diversifying health perspectives

People hold health conceptions that are shaped by their environments. In Canada, these ideas and subsequent research approaches are often developed further through academic training. Current public health perspectives and approaches are largely focused on Western worldviews of health. I share my reflections on my environments, and continued journey as a student in academia that led me to question the current standard of teaching uniform health perspectives. Fostering a singular-worldview learning environment translate to future scholars missing opportunities to learn promising discourses – such as strength-based approaches – that may be more effective in application, including in Indigenous health research. I suggest ways in which environments that foster the appreciation and comprehension of diverse health perspectives can be built.

Modeling Of Conceptions Of Health: A New Tool In Health Education

BACKGROUND: Conceptions allow individuals to interpret reality and to act on it according to their own form of coherence and validity. If a student’s conception of health is not organized at the beginning of the course so as to accept that the three domains of the biopsychosocial concept act on an equal footing, it is possible that notions brought by the instructors, relating to a domain that the student considers less operational, are too far removed from his proximal zone of development. This article proposes to shed light on this issue through an analysis, leading to a modeling of students’ conception of health at the beginning their osteopathy studies.METHODS: A semi-directed questionnaire survey was conducted among osteopathy students during their first week of training. The contents of the verbatims were analyzed according to their blocks of meaning, categorized to bring out the different conceptions of health and then modeled using network visualization software to illustrate the links and the relative weight of the different items of conceptions.RESULTS: We identified 36 categories of conceptions of health. The modeling shows strong links between the psychological and biological domains, while the social domain is isolated.CONCLUSIONS: From an andragogical perspective, modeling conceptions of health can allow students to situate their life course in relation to health and instructors, in order to identify the components of health conceptions that they do not yet mobilize.

Humanitarian relief and market interests: Genetically Modified Organisms in the United States food aid

In 2002, Southern Africa was struck by a severe food crisis. Despite the hardships, some nations of this region refused food aid from the US due to the presence of Genetically Modified Organisms. They claimed that the food was unsafe for their population’s consumption. The paper addresses the main reasons for the US donation of GMOs. Based on documental analysis, congressional hearings and literature review, we argue that although the donations may have the intention of helping the emergency problems of these African and Latin American countries, the food aid also promotes US market interests, disregarding public health conceptions and economic interests of those countries. Recebido em: setembro/2019 Aprovado em: dezembro/2019

Consumers’ perceived barriers to following a plant-based diet

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the barriers perceived by consumers to lowering their meat consumption levels and adopting a plant-based diet, which means a diet that includes mainly non-meat foods, yet it can contain both vegetarian and meat meals. Design/methodology/approach – The prevalence of different barriers for following a plant-based diet is addressed, as well as consumer profiles considering socio-demographics, values and meat consumption frequencies. The data were collected in 2010 by a survey questionnaire, sent to 4,000 randomly selected Finns (response rate=47.3, n=1,890). Findings – Different types of barriers are perceived to hinder the adoption of a plant-based diet, including meat enjoyment, eating routines, health conceptions and difficulties in preparing vegetarian foods. These barriers are strongly correlated, indicating that consumers may not make qualitative difference between different barriers. Furthermore, there are distinct socio-demographic, value and especially meat consumption frequency elements that strengthen the barrier perception, these being male gender, young age, rural residence, household type of families with children, low education, absence of a vegetarian family member or friend, valuation of traditions and wealth and high meat consumption frequency. Social implications – High meat consumption is related to many environmental and public health problems. The results call for multifaceted policy implications that should concentrate on different barriers and certain socio-demographic, value and meat eating groups. Importantly, focus should be not only on the group with the strongest barrier perception but also on those particularly willing to make changes in their meat consumption patterns. One practical implication could be to increase the availability of vegetarian foods in public cafeterias or school canteens, as a decrease in meat consumption frequency is strongly correlated with the alleviation of the barrier perception. Originality/value – Information about differences in socio-demographics, values and meat consumption frequencies between consumers provide opportunities for focussing policy actions to aid the adoption of a plant-based diet.

Health conceptions among adolescents of a Bangladeshi rural population

Objective: This study was aimed at understanding adolescents’ conceptions regarding health. Methodology: This was an empirical study conducted applying qualitative methods in a village at Sylhet district in the northeastern region of Bangladesh. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Result: Most of the adolescents did not have clear conception about the meaning of the term “Health” in term of WHO’s definition. They emphasized that the appearance of body structure is the indicator of health. They divided human body into two parts; inner and outer. The flesh and intestine are covered by skin. Soul is considered as the internal part of body. Respondents explained that female body as less strong than male and female become easily infected. Few adolescents believed health as state of disease free condition. Conclusion: This study revealed that adolescents have diversified thinking on health which demands to provide special attention for improving their understanding on health. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v12i1.13350 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 12 No. 01 January’13 pp.30-33