Community Health Agents (CHA) play a very important role in implementing a Family Health Policy: they have to establish a link between users and primary care services, articulating health promotion, primary care, and preventive actions. From 2004 to 2006, a team from Cerest (Center of Reference in Workers' Health) in Piracicaba, São Paulo, carried out an Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA) at a family health care center aiming not only at understanding the relationship between suffering complaints and CHA working conditions, but also at improving them. The results of EWA showed that despite being engaged in health promotion and in solving families' health problems, their 'pouvoir d'agir' was constrained, due to the limitations of the health care system that does not provide them with means to take effective action, causing suffering to the CHA.
mental health; Ergonomic Work Analysis; occupational health; Family Health Program
