Workloads and strain process in Community Health Agents

• Published in: Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 95 - 100
• Main Authors: Almeida, Mirian Cristina Dos Santos, Baptista, Patricia Campos Pavan, Silva, Arlete
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem 01.02.2016; SciELO
• Subjects: Adult; Agentes Comunitarios de Salud; Carga de Trabajo; Community Health Workers; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; NURSING; Occupational Diseases - epidemiology; Riesgos Laborales; Salud Ocupacional; Workload; Agentes Comunitários de Saúde; Riesgos Laborales; Community Health Agents; Occupational Health; Riscos Ocupacionais; Occupational Risks; Agentes Comunitarios de Salud; Carga de Trabalho; Carga de Trabajo; Salud Ocupacional; Saúde do Trabalhador; Workload
• ISSN: 0080-6234; 1980-220X; 0080-6234
• DOI: 10.1590/S0080-623420160000100013

To identify the workloads present in the work activities of community health agents (CHAs) and the resulting strain processes. A descriptive, exploratory, cross-sectional and quantitative study conducted with 137 CHAs. Data were collected through a questionnaire and interview guided by the health surveillance software called SIMOSTE (Health Monitoring System of Nursing Workers), following the ethical codes of the current law. In total, were identified 140 workloads involved in 122 strain processes, represented by the occurrence of health problems of the CHAs. The mechanical (55.00%) and biological (16.43%) loads stood out. The most common strain processes were the external causes of morbidity and mortality (62.31%) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (10.66%). From the identified overloads, it became evident that all workloads are present in the work process of CHAs, highlighting the mechanical load, represented mainly by external causes of morbidity and mortality that are related to occupational accidents.