Towards an indigenous definition of health: an explorative study to understand the indigenous Ecuadorian people's health and illness concepts.

BACKGROUNDS: An intercultural society facilitates equitable and respectful interrelations. Knowing and understanding each other's sociocultural and linguitic contexts is a prerequisite for an intercultural society. This study explores the concepts of health and illness among healers of indigenous ethnicities in Southern Ecuador. METHODS: A qualitative observational study with eleven focus groups was conducted in three locations in Southern Ecuador; a total of 110 participants the Shuar, Kichwa and Mestizo ethnic groups were included. A phenomenological and hermeneutic analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Fourteen main subtopics around of two predefined themes, i.e., "Health" and "Illness" were identified: 1) four bodies, 2) religiosity, 3) health as a good diet, 4) health as god's blessing or a gift, 5) health as balance/ harmony, 6) health as community and social welfare, 7) health as potentiality or a skill, 8) health as peacefulness, 9) heath as individual will, 10) illness as an imbalance, 11) illness as bad energy, 12) illness as a bad diet, 13) illness as suffering or worry, and 14) illness from God, Nature and People illness. By analysing all the topics' and subtopics' narratives, a health and illness definition was developed. The principal evidence for this new framework is the presence of interculturality as a horizontal axis in health. The indigenous perspective of health and illness focus on a balance between 4 bodies: the physical, spiritual, social and mental bodies. Additionally, "good health" is obtained through of the good diet and balanced/harmony. CONCLUSION: Indigenous healers in Southern Ecuador have views on health and illness that differ from the Western biomedical model of care. These different views must be recognized and valued in order to build an intercultural (health) system that empowers both ancestral and modern medical knowledge and healing.

Comportamiento psicológico, social y familiar de la mujer sometida a mastectomía / Psychological behavior, social and family status of women subjected to mastectomy

Es un estudio cualitativo: fenomenológico y hermenéutico que utilizó el estudio de caso desde la estética, para entender las particularidades de la mujer mastectomizada y analizar los factores que producen cambio en ella. Es un relato de existencias y construcción de una vida particular. Los datos fueron recolectados a través de una entrevista a profundidad, aplicada por la investigadora y organizados para el análisis de contenido. Resultados: las emociones como miedo, tristeza, llanto, negación, estuvo presente en la mujer y entre los familiares durante el descubrimiento del cáncer y frente a la noticia de la cirugía. El cáncer de mama afectó su sexualidad, autoimagen, feminidad, autoestima. Establece grandes diferencias en su autopercepción antes y después de la enfermedad. Conclusión: el cáncer de mama es una enfermedad agresiva, traumática y afecta a la mujer en todas las dimensiones de su vida, acarreando cambios en el desempeño de sus roles y en la percepción de su imagen corporal.