Afetos e afecções na formação de conhecimento sobre a hanseníase: contribuições para prática educativa em saúde

Affects and affections in the formation of knowledge about leprosy: contributions to the educational practice in health

Abstract

The article reflects on the relationship between the knowledge formed about leprosy and the theory of affections of the philosopher Benedictus de Spinoza, using the cartographic reference of Deleuze and Guattarri, as a way of producing knowledge. The objective was to apprehend the affects and affections involved in the formation of knowledge about leprosy, in the experience of those affected. The qualitative research was carried out in a Leprosy Reference Center in a medium-sized city in northeastern Brazil, with informants registered in that center. For data production, a semi-structured interview and participant observation were carried out. Data were analyzed from data triangulation. The results pointed to a weakness in the diagnosis of leprosy and that the use of more relational technologies in the health work process, the perception of singularities, the inclusion of the family, the feasibility of experiments and the demarcation of individual motivation factors, are vital to the educational process. It is concluded that, in the planning of educational activities, the singularities of the individuals targeted by the actions must be taken into account. In addition, the formation of knowledge does not occur exclusively through contact with the professional and is not restricted to the technical and biologicist knowledge of the pathology. Thus, thinking about an educational process that fulfills its transforming purpose requires much more from the professional than technical-scientific knowledge about the disease.