Permanent Education to Communitarian Agents of Health: needs and challenges

This study aimed to understand how the educational process of establishing the Community Health Agents (CHA) in Florianópolis - SC - Brazil, as well as identifying issues to contribute to the Permanent Education in Health and social transformation. The study was conducted between May to August 2007 using a qualitative-quantitative approach. The qualitative analysis was adopted as a methodological reference Convergent Care Research and the quantitative part is characterized as a cross, using a structured questionnaire, self-administered. The study group consisted of 470 CHA Florianópolis divided into 47 Local Health Units. Data were collected in 53 meetings called "educational workshops" containing 8 to 10 CHA and three facilitators. The results were organized from two units of analysis, the first, "Planning of these actions," indicates that there is no ordering of the educational process, for this is regular, structured and formal. The initiatives stem from the central level, configuring it as isolated and restricted and without a specific plan. The second unit of analysis, "Survey of content of interest to support a formal education process," he said with an indication of issues raised by the CHA in 1269 that were stored in the software EpiData and evaluated with SPSS (version 9.0). It's indicated interest in talks about the Problems of Public Health, Health Promotion, related to the activities of CHA, the National Health System and the Family Health Strategy as well as, is emphasized the desire for regular training and technical nursing. The themes for Continuing Education must emerge from the base, or the workers themselves and the health community for emergency problems that are covered in all its touching and that education has positive results.