Ethnoepidemiology and mental health: insights from Latin America

Naomar Almeida-Filho

doi:10.18294/sc.2020.2786

Etnoepidemiología y salud mental: perspectivas desde América Latina

Naomar Almeida-Filho PhD en Epidemiología. Investigador I-A del Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). Profesor Titular jubilado, Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia. Profesor Visitante, Instituto de Estudios Avançados, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.

Recibido: 10 abril 2020, Aceptado: 11 septiembre 2020, Publicado: 11 septiembre 2020

https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2020.2786 | PMID: 33147402

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Resumen

En este ensayo, exploro las implicaciones teóricas y metodológicas de un abordaje etnoepidemiológico, que busca integrar hallazgos de investigaciones en salud mental con nuevos modelos conceptuales. Con este propósito, en primer lugar, evalúo las raíces y los usos del término “etnoepidemiología” para designar tres tipos de estrategias de investigación para la producción de conocimiento científico: tipo I (estudios de factores de riesgo socioculturales y grupos de riesgo definidos étnicamente); tipo II (estudios de modelos populares de distribución y ocurrencia de enfermedades en poblaciones); y tipo III (estudios etnográficos de proyectos y líneas de investigación epidemiológica). Como ejemplo, se presentan y discuten características metodológicas seleccionadas de tres estudios en los que he participado. Posteriormente detallo los desarrollos metodológicos derivados de esta experiencia de hacer investigación, generando nuevos modelos para la investigación transcultural y transdisciplinaria de las prácticas en salud mental y, por último, en las conclusiones, comento algunas implicaciones generales del estudio de los problemas de salud mental desde un punto de vista etnográfico y epidemiológico integrado, en sociedades diversas y profundamente desiguales, como las de la América Latina contemporánea.

Palabras clave: Etnoepidemiología, Metodología, Salud Mental, Antropología Médica, Psiquiatría Transcultural

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