Community health agents: The challenges of working in the rural area

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify the challenges Community Health Workers (CHW) face in the rural areas of Jerônimo Monteiro - ES and assess whether in the course of meeting the demands of rural health service users, CHWs seek different ways of carrying out their activities, over and above institutionalized practice. The study material was collected through interviews and observation, following an Institutional Analysis perspective. The extension of the Family Health Unit (FHU), its large demographic dispersion, the fact that homes are distant and difficult to access, forms of locomotion, animals, and home visits during the coffee harvest constituted the main challenges of the daily work of CHWs in rural areas. Given these challenges and the need to fulfil with their assigned activities, CHWs working in the rural areas of Jerônimo Monteiro innovate and seek different ways to develop their practice.