Abstract
Autonomy is considered a fundamental human right and its promotion and enlargement compose several public health policies. This study aims to investigate the senses produced by hospitalized people in a Brazilian university hospital concerning their autonomy in the process of healthcare. The study takes on an exploratory, qualitative approach. Six hospitalized people were interviewed between July and October 2018. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed according to thematic content analysis. The results were divided into two categories: 1) The experience of illness and hospitalization; and 2) Relationship between the hospitalized person and the health team. It is considered that there are still several challenges to the co-production of hospitalized people’s autonomy, such as the need to consider the vicissitudes of the hospitalization experience, as well as the fragility in the communication processes between hospitalized people and the health team. Some paths are pointed out aiming at strengthening the autonomy of hospitalized people, such as providing a health care that goes beyond the hospitalized person’s illness and a professional performance based on health education practices that foster dialogue and consider the knowledge of the hospitalized people.
Keywords:
Autonomy; hospitalization; health care