Health and Self-Care from the Perspective of Institutionalized Adolescents

The health of institutionalized adolescents is permeated by peculiarities that are influenced by the different contexts in which they develop. This study aimed to understand the conceptions about health and self-care elaborated by adolescents under protective measures of institutional shelter, in the light of the Bioecological model. This is a qualitative and exploratory study, based on the Bioecological Theory. Fourteen adolescent girls participated in the study. Based on the ecological insertion methodology, data were collected from a field diary, medical records, a questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews, subjected to thematic content analysis. A plurality of understandings about health and self-care was verified, which are more associated with the institutional experience than with family life and evidenced a lack of actions that support healthcare habits and autonomy of adolescents within the family unit.