Repercussões da Covid-19 no cotidiano de mulheres residentes em um assentamento rural no nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is configured as the greatest health challenge of the 21st century, causing multiple impacts, affecting the world population both individually and collectively and being considered a Public Health Emergency of International Importance. This study aimed to understand the repercussions of COVID-19 on the daily lives of women in a rural settlement in Northeastern Brazil. Therefore, a qualitative approach research was carried out, whose data were analyzed using the Collective Subject Discourse method in the light of the epidemic disease framework proposed by Charles Rosemberg. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, under opinion number 4,063,657. Forty-eight interviews were carried out with women in a rural settlement in northeastern Brazil, between January and March 2021, in the residences of the interviews in a reserved place. Participants reported concerns generated in dealing with the pandemic: lack of work; difficulty in supporting the family due to lack of resources; uncertainty in the future; contamination risk; fear of death; cancellation of children's classes; sadness; racism and prejudice. They unveiled opportunities in the experience of the pandemic: adoption of prevention measures for survival; solidarity and help received; inner and familiar strength; rethink life; belief in God and hope for a better future. The findings point to the need to implement public health actions and policies for women in the rural context, which are compatible with the demarcations presented socio-historically by this population.