Itinerários terapêuticos: Trajetórias entrecruzadas na busca por cuidados

Abstract

The general purpose of this paper is to present the therapeutic itineraries of HIVpositive people. These courses, consisting of unusual blends and compositions, reveal the complex ways in fighting HIV/ AIDS taken by people who undergo therapies trying to restore or preserve health. Admitting the existence of numerous available treatments, we analyze the itineraries of therapies known as being of the "religious type" in their relation to the biomedical model. Ethnography revealed that the interlocutors do not separate the religious and the biomedical therapy on different levels. What stood out was the simultaneous interaction of the two solutions employed for the same purpose: health. It was possible to observe a therapeutic continuum, i.e., the options are not isolated; rather, they appear as consecutive parts that flow without clearly demarcated boundaries.