Community health workers’ perceptions on the actions of health promotion

Abstract

Introduction: The community health workers have brought new perspectives to work in primary care asthe possibility of bringing closer health teams for the heterogeneous groups that make up a given population.In this sense, the peculiar characteristics of these professionals can facilitate health promotion.Objective: Considering the agent’s potential to promote health, this research aimed to identify the perceptionsof community health workers on the promotion of the health actions they perform. Method:it is a qualitative study done with eleven community health workers who work in the municipalities ofIepê, Nantes, Quatá and Rancharia, municipalities that belong to the 11th Regional Health Care Net ofPresidente Prudente, SP, Brazil. The technique for the data collection was the focal group, and the analysistechnique used was “the content analysis”. Results: The health promotion actions in the studied municipalitieshave been barely developed by the community health workers and are based on the communityintegration to health service and actions for the environment control. Conclusion: Most of these communityhealth workers haven’t had any training for their profession, which causes its poor accomplishment.