Covid-19 and its socio-cultural imagery in latin america: A tool for public health

Abstract

Objective Identify the content and organization of social representations (SR) against COVID-19 in urban population of three cities in Latin America, 2020. Materials and Methods Qualitative study from cognitive anthropology through the structural analysis of SR. Free listing and pair comparison techniques were used from February-April 2020, in Pereira (Colombia), Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (ZMG)-(Mexico), León (Mexico). 97 participants were included in the first phase and 71 in the second phase, of both sexes, of legal age, whose occupation and profession had no relation to the health area; non-probability-purposeful sampling was performed. Results The socio-cultural imaginary is associated with terms such as contagion, pan-demic, but highlighting the terms related to disease prevention. Conclusions The knowledge of the population about COVID-19 privileges clinical and epidemiological aspects, as well as containment and mitigation measures.