Lessons from the pandemics: learning from other epistemologies of collective care with reciprocity

Abstract

In times of pandemics, the existing weaknesses arising from the conformed and deepened inequalities in neoliberal globalization, are expressed more forcefully. The biomedical model, centered on hospital care and hard technologies, is limited to adequate collective care and this failure has gained more visibility with Covid 19. Neighborhood care for different population groups and Primary Health Care integrated with care networks are paths that, if followed, enable a more appropriate management in the face of emergency health situations. In the trajectory of struggles of Popular Education in Health in Brazil, practices and knowledge emerge daily in a shared way in the diversity of life territories. Decolonial movements in health, although against hegemony, have pointed to fuller experiences of collective care, such as Living Well (Bem Viver) – a cosmology that acquires nuances among peoples from Latin America. These principles are listed by this perspective: reciprocity, relationality, complementarity and solidarity between individuals and communities. Learning from other epistemologies that bring capillarities of reciprocal care, including all beings of Nature, is a possibility for inventing other narratives for health promotion and postponing the end of the world.