Agente comunitário de saúde: mobilização subjetiva e desafios do trabalho perpassado pela pandemia de Covid-19

Abstract

This dissertation is the result of empirical qualitative research and sought to know the work of community health agents (ACS), the changes in the work routine, the subjective mobilization around work, even after the emergence of the covid-19 pandemic. Face-to-face collective listening was used with seven female CHAs, adapted from the method proposed by the Psychodynamics of Work, in a Basic Family Health Unit, in Campina Grande, Paraíba. They reported changes in professional practice and routine, bureaucratization of work, overload and accumulation of functions. They complain about the invisibility and intermittence of work, as they are demanded outside working hours, at home or through telework, which intensified after the covid-19 pandemic. Intersubjective relationships occur with peers, coordination and the community. They lack a space for qualified listening. They use creativity and cunning to handle the demands and unpredictability of work. They turn to TV and the internet in search of information to minimize the permanent education deficit, including during the covid-19 pandemic. Recognition is given by peers and users when demands are met. There is cooperation between them. There was a lack of solidarity with professionals contaminated by covid-19. During the first months of the pandemic, the ACS did not have training, did not receive PPE, nor did they have access to tests, technical, logistical or psychological assistance. The transformations were many in a short space of time and the challenges increased, causing the ACS to subjectively mobilize to handle their activity.