Publicación:

Representaciones sociales de la menopausia en las mujeres araucanas de edad adulta media

Resumen

The goal of this study focused on describing social representations about menopause in native women native in Arauca, by identifying the cognitive, affective and symbolic content; and attitudinal and behavioral guidelines concerning menopause. A qualitative phenomenological study design, in which 20 women participated in postmenopausal period, born and resident in the municipality of Arauca, aged between 50 and 60 years was conducted. For data collection was designed and applied a semi-structured interview and analysis developed as established by Grounded Theory. The results allowed the description of social representations of menopause around five major issues: the concept of menopause, health, sexuality, self-schemas and relationships; evidenced by women during this stage of life. A significant lack of menopause, which originated from the myth of the issues related to sexuality of women, based on taboos and convictions that are manifested by the lack of communication between parents and children was identified and a lacking information dissemination, which extends even to other levels such as school and health care. However, it appears that the role of Arauca women remains unchanged in relation to most areas of operation, even when experiencing menopause.