“When I Have a Health Problem, First I Go to the Doctor and Then to the Church”: Women, Health, and Belief in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Argentina

Abstract

This article focuses on the articulation between health and beliefs among women in the context of Argentina’s COVID-19 pandemic. We analyse the health problems reported by women through age and religious affiliation variables with data from the Science, Health, and Beliefs survey – a nonprobabilistic study with 2,453 cases nationwide. The results show that women’s health was more affected than the average and that they suffered at least three health conditions simultaneously during the pandemic. The data also indicate that many of these women could not access medical professionals and the health system for their care, since it was focused on emergency care and due to long isolation periods established in Argentina. In this context, the respondents reported using complementary or integrative medicine practices such as prayer, medicinal plants, and foods for health care. As a discussion, this article raises questions about the possibilities of re-establishing integrative medicine processes and spiritual care strategies in the health system that, during the pandemic, promoted care based on the hegemonic medical model. It also questions how people who have developed self-care and attention practices will resort to the biomedical system to care for their ailments.