Health promotion: perceptions of community health workers from their training and their practice / Promoção da saúde: percepção dos agentes comunitários de saúde a partir da sua formação e da sua prática

AUTOR(ES)

Marcia Mulin Firmino da Silva

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

Introduction Health promotion aims at better quality of life, through public policies that favor health development and enhance the capacity of individuals and communities. The strategy of Family Health deals with health promotion references and the community health agent (CHA) is the element who adds this potential to the healthcare team. Objective To analyze the perception of community health agents about Health Promotion, based on their background and practice, and to discuss about possibilities and limitations related to their work. Methods Research-action was used and allowed a close association between investigation and resolution of a collective problem. The subjects of the study were community health agents working at Primary Healthcare Units, comprising a group of 18 agents representing the units involved. The study was conducted together with the group by means of a) reflection workshops, in four healthcare units, with the group of CHA, identifying their perception about the concept of health promotion and the work carried out in this area; b) workshops with the group of CHA representatives, systematizing the contents; and c) seminar to present and discuss the results obtained. The discourse analysis technique was used to systematize the contents. Results and discussion: The community agents define health promotion relating it to the social determinants of the health-disease process; however several difficulties were identified in terms of developing education and collective actions; intersectoral articulation and participation/citizenship. In such categories, the limitations learned are related to the process of individual and collective empowerment, considering autonomy and exercise of power for social transformation. The reflexive process also identified other challenges to be overcome, related to team work care management, work organization, capacity-building/training, emotional support, and work conditions, which were organized in a work plan. Final considerations: research-action enabled in a collective and participatory manner to understand and analyze the work of the community agents in health promotion, considering the existing limitations and possibilities to overcome them. The development of plan of action, addressing the analyzed categories, targets at family health teams through technical supervision and team meetings. Systematizing the process of reflection and problematization of the reality with the group involved produced knowledge and contents that may contribute by providing tools to the processes of permanent training and education of an expressive group of community health agents in Brazil

ASSUNTO(S)

research-action empowerment family health health promotion empowerment promoção da saúde agente comunitário de saúde pesquisa-ação community health agent saúde da família

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