The Community Health Agents Program (PACS) was created in 1991 as a strategy to implement the SUS, developing activities related to prevention and health education. In 1994, the Health Ministry proposed the Family Health Program (PSF) as a strategy for restructuring the dominant care model. With the emergence of these two programs, there is the emergence of a new actor in the health scenario, the Community Health Agent (ACS). This actor plays an important role in basic care, acting as a link between families, users and health service. This study takes as subject the work of ACS in a Family Health Unit in the city of Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro state. It aims to discuss the facilitators and limiting aspects of the activities assigned to the ACS. This is a search-type descriptive work, with qualitative approach. Data analysis was made by analytical categories that emerged from data from the interviews. After data analysis, we found that the ACS from Volta Redonda's PSF do not receive training to develop their activities and that they consider the experience the main engine to perform activities. Teamwork is recognized as a space for scientific knowledge circulation, and popular knowledge as a mediator between team and population. The work ACS is centered on home visit, mainly focused on disease.
Family Health; auxiliary to community health; professional practice