Abstract

PRAZERES, Filipe; SIMOES, José Augusto  and  LOMAS, Tim. Positive psychology of portuguese “desenrascanço” in multimorbidity: the general practitioners’ perspective. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2021, vol.22, n.1, pp.195-202.  Epub Apr 30, 2021. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/21psd220117.

The untranslatable word desenrascanço, a Portuguese construct related to people’s ability to skilfully negotiate complex issues and to solve them with originality and creativity, was studied using a common medical complex scenario - multimorbidity. An online qualitative survey was carried out in the last trimester of 2018. A total of 117 general practitioners (GPs) completed the full survey. Ninety-one (77.8%) were familiar with the concept of desenrascanço. Responses were coded using thematic analysis. Desenrascanço is commonly used by GPs; 77 out of 91 GPs use desenrascanço in at least half of the appointments with multimorbid patients. Three components of desenrascanço were identified: adaptive response; creativity and art; and positivity. It could conceivably be hypothesised that the positive drive of desenrascanço (e.g. creativity) are used by GPs collectively to adapt to multimorbidity - a medical complex situation. Nonetheless, one should not forget that it may not be the ideal solution, as stated by participant GPs.

Keywords : multimorbidity; primary care; desenrascanço; untranslatable word.

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