This qualitative study aimed to identify difficulties experienced by Community Health Agents (CHA) in the course of daily practice of care. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with twelve CHA from four Basic Health Units in a city of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. From an analysis of the speech of subjects, we found that the deficiency of health services, the workload of the nurses responsible for the team and the service rejection by users make it difficult to implement the health actions. This research emphasizes the limitations expressed by the health agents, and points towards the necessity of an evolving discussion of this theme, seeking strategies that enable the consolidation of community health principles.
Primary Health Care; Community Health Services; Delivery of Health Care