Abstract
This qualitative case study analyzed the meaning of the experience of training the community health worker (CHW) in a city in the south of Brazil, based on the problematizing education approach proposed by the Ministries of Education and Health for a technical course. Interviews were conducted with CHWs who completed the course and health and education managers involved in the development and pedagogical supervision of the course (n=17). The students' portfolios and the course’s Pedagogical Project were analyzed. The textual material was interpreted by content analysis supported by the ATLAS.ti software. The course enhanced the CHWs’ knowledge on how to approach and guide families, improved their communication and interpersonal skills, and broadened their understanding of health by including social determinants of the health-disease process, preparing them to deal with complex problems. This brought security, confidence and tranquility to the work process. The problematizing education approach, which greatly values active teaching-learning-assessment methodologies, promoted learning connected with the experiences of the CHWs. The course also fostered the CHWs’ feeling of belonging to a team. Challenges were observed regarding the understanding/execution of the active methodologies. Research on the training of CHWs and on the assessment of their work, involving the perception of teams and users, is recommended.
Keywords:
Community Health Workers. Education; Continuing. Family Health Strategy. Primary Health Care. Unified Health System.