SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF DIABETES MELLITUS

This study aimed to apprehend the social representations elaborated by people who have diabetes about the disease. As many as 31 people, with ages ranging from 34 and 76 years old (M = 55.68, SD = 11.6), who responded to a socio-demographic questionnaire and depth interview. The data were submitted to the Alceste software and analyzed using descriptive statistics and lexical analysis. The results showed that the social representations were focused on the ignorance of diabetes, highlighting the surprise of diagnosis, their representations, were also anchored in nutritional and emotional factors which were permeated by negative emotions. Participants who used insulin have ratified responsibilities notions, directed to disease consequences, such as the case of the limbs amputation, those who did not used insulin described the disease linked to the triad of treatment. The results showed the importance of an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the psychosociological support aimed at developing strategies that can be adopted to control and diabetes care