[Community health agents' work process and restructuring].
The current study analyzes the care provided by community health agents in the Family Health Program in Brazil, as characterized by their work process, the techniques they employ, and restructuring of their work. The research adopted a case study design, and data were collected with semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Instruments from the mapping method were used. The results indicate the extensive use of soft and soft-hard technologies in the production of care, backed by work in which the main input was the knowledge acquired by community health agents in the relationship established with target families. Although care centered on live work, in the act, where the community health agents determined their own actions, guided by their subjectivity, their work was subsumed by the logic of the hegemonic model, constituting an on-going dispute in relation to their work process. Despite their care and receptive management, community health agents were unable to 'contaminate' the FHP team, shackled by defunct, established, organized work, thus hindering the restructuring process.
Departamento de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Brasil. vitsoll@gmail.com
Vitória Solange Coelho
VS
Ferreira
Cristina Setenta
CS
Andrade
Túlio Batista
TB
Franco
Emerson Elias
EE
Merhy
D001938:Brazil; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D005192:Family Health; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D036301:Qualitative Research