Social determinants of health and community health agent work^*

Determinantes sociales de salud y el trabajo del agente comunitario

Abstract

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.

Descriptors:
Community Health Workers; Primary Health Care; Health Status Disparities; Working Conditions; Social Determinants of Health