Abstract
This qualitative exploratory study focused on the narrative of professionals working at Childhood and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Centers. The goal was to describe and analyze the backgrounds of the staff of these centers and their relationship to the process of insertion and practice in this field, as well as to understand how these backgrounds influence these professionals’ everyday work. A questionnaire with open questions and narrative interviews were used. The total study population comprised eight workers from different professional categories working at two childhood and adolescent psychosocial care centers in the city of São Paulo, state of São Paulo, Brazil, one managed directly by the city, while the other by a social health organization. It was shown that politics is not often cited by the organization's employees, while for city professionals is an important part of the meaning of their work. All respondents bear similarities, among which the assimilation of the treatment offered to children based on adult rules, having worked at hospitals and clinics, and the professional's focus on the disease, not the subject of the suffering. Captive of these representations, these professionals experience competencies, skills, and thoughts that give rise to improvisation and anguish.
Keywords
public health; mental health; childhood and adolescence; health care