Child Health Care: Practices of a Brazilian Indigenous Population

Purpose. To understand the health care practices related to children from birth to five years old in an Indigenous population of the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Design. The theoretical and ethnographic methodological framework and the Observation-Participation-Reflection model (OPR) were used for data collection. In total, 20 families with 24 children were observed.

Results. The belief in the healing power of teas generally overlapped the use of drugs. Herbs in the form of extracts or oils were used in the umbilical stump dressing and baths. The Indigenous people were assisted by professionals in their own communities and nearby urban areas.

Conclusion. The care in daily life of Indigenous families was still informal and provided by women, with beliefs and customs that should be considered by health care professionals in transcultural care.