Community Health Agents: concepts of health and their work.

Author(s)

Viviane Milan Pupin

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2008-08-22

Examining board members

Carmen Lucia Cardoso; Luciana Nogueira Fioroni; Cristiane Paulin Simon

• Advisor: Carmen Lucia Cardoso

Abstract

The Community Health Agent work had its insertion nationally expanded after it became a feasible alternative in the fight against hunger and child mortality in underprivileged regions. It is inserted in the Family Health Program - which is a strategy used to restructure and reorganize the primary health care level. Its specificities include working in the same community in which one lives and not having the requirement of having concluded any technical education in health in order to start in the profession. The purpose of this study is to analyze the concepts of Community Health Agents (CHAs) concerning health and their work. To do this, eleven open interviews were performed with CHAs. The interviews were later analyzed by means of the Principles of Content Analysis, using authors on collective health as the theoretical framework. Data analysis made it possible to identify three themes: \"health concepts\", \"work concepts\" and \"overload\". The health concepts described point at a broader view of health, including as its determinants leisure, work, housing and infra-structure, feeding and physical activity, however, these determinants are described in a prescriptive way, in which the health professional detains the knowledge about what is good for the user. Work concepts involve soft technologies, such as listening, welcoming, bonding, and using a lay language, showing concern with work that involves humanization in health care practices. On the other hand, these technologies are often described an insufficient, and need to be accompanied by more technical actions, like prescriptions, forwarding, and problem resolution. Regarding the overload theme, besides the requirements imposed to the CHAs and the little value assigned to work, overload is described as dealing with the different and the high emotional involvement with the users. In addition, team work is also reported as an overload since this kind of work can be negatively influenced by personal issues among the members, and the team is described as being created only when there are friendship ties or affinities among the practitioners. This study contributes to understanding the work of CHA and the factors determining their work overload. These comparisons favor the rethinking about CHA practices and that of the Family Health team as a whole, with a view to effectively reorganize and restructure primary health care based on the principles of the Single Health System. (AU)