Resumo

SILVA, Thais Lacerda e; DIAS, Elizabeth Costa  e  RIBEIRO, Eliana Cláudia de Otero. Knowledge and practices of community health agents in workers' healthcare. Interface (Botucatu) [online]. 2011, vol.15, n.38, pp. 859-870.  Epub 23-Set-2011. ISSN 1414-3283.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1414-32832011005000035.

Community health agents play a fundamental role in workers' comprehensive healthcare through registering and gathering information on the sociodemographic profile of this population and identifying productive activities developed at home and in the vicinity, along with possible risk factors for workers' health. This study was based on competency reference points and sought to understand community health agents' work processes, placing value on their knowhow and perceptions of work-health-illness relationships, in order to guide the capacitation processes. It was developed in a city located at metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, and used the card collection technique, which is part of the "Visualization in Participatory Programmes" method. Actions within the fields of competency of health promotion and organization of healthcare were identified. The results stress the importance of new studies that take into consideration the changes in community health agents' work processes when aiming to developing workers' healthcare actions.

Palavras-chave : Occupational Health; Primary Health Care; Competency-Based Education; Community health agent.