OBJECTIVE: To understand the social determinants of health from the perspective of the work of community health agents. METHOD: A qualitative study conducted in a Health District Management in the city of Porto Alegre/Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with community health agents. The analysis took place through thematic categorization, and the social determinants of health were adopted as the analytical category. RESULTS: Twenty-five (25) community health agent workers participated. Overlapping individual and collective themes emerged, from violence and drug trafficking to lack of sanitation, improperly disposed garbage, illiteracy and the health problems themselves. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a complex relationship between the work of community health agents and the social determinants of health, reinforcing the need for a cohesive health team with intersectoral initiatives to address the different demands of the territories which are worked and lived in.
OBJECTIVE: To understand the social determinants of health from the perspective of the work of community health agents. METHOD: A qualitative study conducted in a Health District Management in the city of Porto Alegre/Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with community health agents. The analysis took place through thematic categorization, and the social determinants of health were adopted as the analytical category. RESULTS: Twenty-five (25) community health agent workers participated. Overlapping individual and collective themes emerged, from violence and drug trafficking to lack of sanitation, improperly disposed garbage, illiteracy and the health problems themselves. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a complex relationship between the work of community health agents and the social determinants of health, reinforcing the need for a cohesive health team with intersectoral initiatives to address the different demands of the territories which are worked and lived in.
Authors: Gerardo Teixeira Azevedo Neto; Israel Coutinho Sampaio Lima; Ana Suelen Pedroza Cavalcante; Wallingson Michael Gonçalves Pereira; Maria Rocineide Ferreira da Silva; José Jackson Coelho Sampaio Journal: Rev Bras Med Trab Date: 2021-04-30