Meaning of the health concept from the perspective of families at personal and social risk

The purpose of this study is to describe the meaning of health through the perspective of families under personal and social risk situations. The ethnographic analysis based the investigation and data were collected through interviews with the low income families of children attended by a Communitary Center in S?o Paulo city. The analysis of the interview contents allowed the identification of 7 cultural domains. The results of this study show the characteristics of knowledge, values and behaviours about the health concept, that are relevant to families, enabling the understanding of the family organization, that is significant to health care of each member and also the central role carried out by mothers in the studied culture.