Significados atribuídos ao uso de álcool e tabaco por profissionais de saúde.

Abstract

In order to improve the quality of health care in the Brazilian public Family Health Strategy (FHS), it is important that health care professionals consider the meaning they attribute to the use of alcohol and tobacco in their self-knowledge process. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning attributed to the use of alcohol and tobacco by health care professionals working in the FHS. A qualitative study was performed in five small towns in southern Brazil between March and May of 2012. Direct observations and in-depth interviews were performed with 39 subjects. From the content analysis, two central categories were identified "Do what I say but not what I do," and "I am a role model." It was possible to identify that the health professionals experience an interactive process of reframing concepts about their own use of psychoactive substances, which causes them to respond to the social expectation of being a role model of behavior.