Resumo (EN)
Introduction – People with chronic disease as arterial hypertension experienced changes in their habits that are usually accompanied by different feelings as fear, anxiety, and negation. This research aim at identifying the changes in the life of hypertensive people after discovering the disease. Material and Methods – This is a descriptive and qualitative research, using a structured interview as instrument to collect dates, composed by an open question made to those registered in the Program of Arterial Hypertension of the School Health Center located in the city of Umuarama, Paraná. Results – The results showed six categories of changes among the studied group: 1) Absence of significant changes; 2) Changes in the diet; 3) Attitudes changes to control the stress; 4) Changes in the daily life by handling drug therapy; 5) Changes in the social life; 6) Pain and ageing, allowing a reflection that abandonment of habits can turned to the loss of a pleasure in a contexto of life in which the opportunities of personal satisfaction are few. Conclusions – To take care of chronic patients requires the understanding of the context in which the changes of behavior are inserted.