Socio-Cultural Context and ITS Relevance IN the Assistance to BRAZILIAN Ostomy People: PRELIMINARY STUDY

The literature tells that the presence of an ostomy cause changes in people’s life, in the physical, emotional and social aspects, including in this the cultural one. Aim: This study objective to investigate the cultural implications that the presence of an intestinal ostomy determines in the life style of the Brazilian ostomy people, in order to improve their quality of life and to call the attention of the health professionals for this aspect of the care. Method: The exploratory and descriptive study covered initially 12 women and 10 men, from 26 to 76 years old. The data had been collected during the monthly meeting of the ostomy group in a public hospital of São Paulo (Brazil), an important reference center of assistance and distribution of appliances and similar devices, after giving clarifications about the collect data usage, and having people consent. Results: 77% of the people are catholics; 81% have definitive colostomy; 86% feel comfortable to speak and 82% to show their ostomy, alleging not to have reason to hide it, and they in general make it for the relatives; 95% make self-care activities in any hour of the day; 36% became more attached to their religious belief; 55% gave up on eating something that they liked; 59% related changes in their marital relationship; 95% did not relate problems when using public transportation. Final Considerations: By the evaluation of the sample, excepting the marital relationship, we can infer that the ostomy Brazilian people feel themselves confortable in the socio-cultural context, in relation to the presence of ostomy what facilitates the assistance care.