Casas de Apoio: health care and rural-urban agency networks

Abstract

This article aims to show how the rural and urban categories are relativized by social institutions that are supported by medical and political networks in the Brazilian Northeast. Our analysis is made possible by the ethnography of a casa de apoio, that is a place where sick people whose residence is distant stay when they are undergoing medical treatment. During the study of Oestana, casa de apoio, we uncovered situations and relationships revealing of a sort of sociability sustained by empathy and gratefulness. These elements refer to medical, cultural and political bonds prior to the stay in Oestana. Thus, we highlight the presence of this “ethos” in the constitution and daily functioning of the establishment, a paradigmatic agency of “rural-urban” flow, which brings out some unusual forms of medical care in contemporary Brazil.