Covid-19: representações sociais do acesso ao cuidado sob a ótica da pessoa com deficiência física

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the social representations of people with physical disabilities regarding access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative, representational research approach is based on the contributions of Serge Moscovici's Theory of Social Representations. The study involved 11 people with physical disabilities enrolled in Basic Health Units in the municipality of Campina Grande, Paraíba. Data collection took place between October and December 2024, using semi-structured interviews. Participants completed a questionnaire, including demographic, socioeconomic, and health variables, and a questionnaire with guiding questions on the topic. Participant characterization data were analyzed descriptively, and the interviews were analyzed separately, based on the aforementioned theory. IRAMUTEQ software was used as an auxiliary resource and to increase the reliability of the inferences made, based on similarity and Descending Hierarchical Classification analyses. The graphical representation of the similarity analysis revealed a semantic range of frequently highlighted words, namely: COVID-19, service, guidance, and health center. These expressions were characterized as the likely central core of the representation, given their high frequency. The descending hierarchical classification procedure distributed 85.14% of the word sets associated with COVID-19 into seven lexical classes. Based on dendrogram analysis and Bardin's categorization principles, three categories were defined: concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic; access to and care provided by health services during the pandemic; and the role of government and the media in times of crisis. Social representations of the COVID-19 pandemic by people with physical disabilities focused on "health measures," "transportation," "vaccine," and "guidance," highlighting significant changes in daily life, restrictions on the role of Primary Health Care in vaccination, and structural barriers to access, especially in transportation, as well as restrictions on information provided by health professionals. Therefore, the need to expand accessibility to health services, strengthen PHC as an effective gateway, train professionals to provide inclusive care, and ensure the participation of people with disabilities in the development of public policies is highlighted.