UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ABOUT THEIR WORK IN A RURAL AREA

Introduction and Objectives: The undergraduates from Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde (ESCS), at the Health Center (HC) Rota do Cavalo, had contact with the Community Health Workers (CHW). Motivated by the CHW collaboration to the community, it was chosen to report the impressions and functions of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) by the CHW, in order to identify the CHW profiles and their conception of work in basic health, including the conflicts and practices on FHS. Methods: Experience Report developed by a semi-structured interview applied on the CHW from Rota do Cavalo. Results and Conclusion: There were four CHW interviewed. They choose the job because of well location, well remuneration, vocation. The most common difficulties found were: rainy weather, presence of domestic animals and the relationship with families. They considered the structure of HC precarious and the difficulty to move around the territory. Their profession is not as well recognized as it should be, so they don’t plan to retire in it. Even so, they showed satisfaction about the timetable and like their professional relationship with the team in the HC. It’s also emphasized that the recognition of the territory and the identification of family demands contribute to the optimal functioning of the FHS. CHW’s satisfactions favor the bond and the trust of the population, besides the team integration leverages the effective treatment to the patient. Basically, the CHW role should be valued in the FHS contest, because the bond with the community provides actions of Health Promotion efficiently.