Wajapi indigenous oral health program: How to build a culturally differentiated educational material?

The conceptions and practices of health in social groups are influenced by the cultural values of the population. To respect communities' views about the health-disease process and to know how to work with these values are the cornerstones to building an effective health program. At the Brazilian Amazon rainforest live 684 individuals from a Tupi-Guarani group called Wajapi. Although, the trajectory of contact with the Brazilian national society has been ongoing since the 70's, only since 2001 have the Wajapi received a systematic oral health program. The purpose of this study was to develop educational oral health materials that respect the cultural beliefs of this population and to discuss their alimentary changes as well the potential threats to oral health. The study utilized an action research method, the first step of which was to use interviews to understand the Wajapi's conceptions about cosmology, oral health habits and alimentary patterns. Then, the author developed workshops with the community agents of health to discuss and to build appropriate educational oral health materials that these agents could use to work more closely with the community. Among the main findings, the study highlighted several forest sources that were used by the ancient Wajapi and that have been forgotten by the young generation because of the influence of the Western oral health techniques. Also, the study demonstrated that the intensification of the contact with the Brazilian national society introduced the wage payment practice, provided habits changes, and influenced the consumption of industrialized food.