Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The study aimed to understand the perceptions and demands imposed on nutritionists active in the preparation of meals served at schools on their training in this area of nutrition. The research was conducted through a selfadministered questionnaire replied to by 39 participants in a training session held for nutritionists who worked under the National School Nutrition Program in 2008. Data were analyzed by means of a qualitative approach. Most professionals considered that their training had not prepared them adequately to act in the area, as issues relevant to the National School Nutrition Program were either not addressed at all or poorly discussed. Despite their difficulties and complaints, most said they were satisfied with their practice in school meals, but believed changes are needed and were not comfortable with the practice itself. This study underpins the importance of holding a broad discussion on the nutritionists' training and on the curricula's adequacy to address current demands.

This paper examines the weaknesses that permeate the interrelationships established in the work process Italian family physicians use to get to know potential ethical conflicts. This field study used a qualitative approach, was exploratory-descriptive in nature, and was conducted in 2007 in the province of Rome, region of Lazio, Italy, among Italian family physicians hired under the National Health Service. Analyzed in the light of everyday bioethics, the results show ethical conflicts generated directly by the health care organization model used by the National Health Service, by the pharmaceutical industry's market, and indirectly by the society, with the backdrop of neoliberal capitalism.

This article analyzes the uniqueness of the action of the community health workers when circulating through the territory in the municipality of Porto Alegre, state ofRio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was considered that the meetings between agents and the territory go beyond the requirements and expectations of the health policies. The production of an idealized image of the agents, who are seen as the 'driving force' of the changes expected from Primary Care, was problematized. When analyzing the complexity of the demands in their daily work, the highlight was the multiplicity of care strategies community workers produce. The uniqueness of each territory and of the health and management teams, among several other variables, puts pressure on the agents and other workers who are part of the Family Health Strategy teams to face a reality that is very different from the one that one may suppose exists. Therefore, the emphasis was on the importance of producing a critical and reflexive position, calling into question the limits and possibilities of this practice in order to enhance the care strategies in use there.

This study aimed to understand the meanings that the nursing workers attribute to the aging process in the labor market, identifying implications for individual and family health. The thematic oral history method was used with twenty nurses at a public hospital in the city of Marília, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The analysis revealed three categories: work history in life; stories about health and illness in and/or through work; history of aging and/or for work. We inferred that work is a major concern; in addition to allowing one to earn a living, it promotes participation in society. We found reports of dissatisfaction with work related mainly to the way it is organized. We conclude that work remains an important activity throughout life, and the environment and the way work is organized influence the aging process. The major challenge for nursing is to formulate propositions that afford real improvements to the workers' conditions.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the role continuing education in health plays as a friendly evaluative practice for completeness in the daily life of health services, as well as its influence in changing the family health teams’ working process. It is based on the experience of the municipality of Teresópolis, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2007 and 2008. A qualitative survey with a descriptive approach was conducted. The theoretical basis consisted of a review of the literature, of the analysis of official documents, minutes of the meetings of the facilitators with the coordinator of the group, and the minutes of the Bipartite Inter-Management Commission. The field of observation consisted of a semi-structured interview with the group of facilitators. To analyze the interviews and minutes, we opted for content analysis and compared the sources as an efficient proof of validation. It was noticed that professionals still find it hard to recognize instruments other than the official ones as assessment tools. However, in Teresópolis, the practice of continuing education was able to promote changes in the labor process, enabling critical and reflective training among current and future health professionals, strengthening social participation and bring management closer to the local health issues, thus proving that a friendly evaluative practice can be considered for completeness.

This is a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study carried out in a rural settlement of the Landless Rural Workers' Movement in the mid-western region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It aims to present and discuss the views settled women have with regard to the work done within the settlement, addressing implications for women's health. The data were gathered in 2011 through semi-structured interviews conducted among nine women living in the settlement. Based on the analysis of the theme, the results indicated that the work done by settled women is broad and not always recognized. With regard to health, it was found that female settled citizens are exposed to vulnerabilities, because they live in an area where work is eminently manual and are exposed to the weather and other instabilities of nature. Another finding is the expansion of women's space of participation in the family business, including specific credit lines for female farmers, factors contributing to the emancipation of women. Therefore, it seems relevant to join efforts to expand actions that support the development of comprehensive public policies to address the reality of the context in which these women are located.

The article discusses the agenda of the Pan American Health Organization for primary health care and its implications for social protection in Latin America in the 2000s. Exploratory in nature, the study was based on the literature concerning social protection and included the review of the literature and documental analysis as methodological strategies, the technical reference for which was rhetoric analysis. The research sought to identify the concepts and meanings underlying the proposal for 'renewed health in primary care' insofar as the perspective of social protection is concerned, considering three aspects: target population (universal or targeted), scope (comprehensive or limited), and the way the services are organized (public-private relations). Results indicate that, historically, the Pan American Health Organization's political agenda has had continuities and discontinuities. The movement for the renewal of primary health care expresses an important inflection on this agenda, as it suggests a vision for primary health care as a restructuring strategy for the national health systems, in addition to the programmatic approach. However, concerning social protection, the proposals that have been made seem to be compatible with different health system arrangements with regard to the concept of universalism, action scope, and public-private partnerships.

This article discusses the partnership between the State and social organizations for the management of health work in the public sector, with emphasis on the work of the community health agent. This is a case study carried out in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in an environment of expansions in the coverage of the Family Health Strategy. The topic is analyzed in a context of a broader reform of the Brazilian State, starting from the understanding that the public administration reform movement, known as managerialism, is closely related in their actions and values with the productive restructuring that got underway in the 1970s. The results show that the work management model that was deployed operates under the logic of productivity, influencing the model of the health care provided to the population and the organization of the work done by the community health agent. The analysis also highlights the temporality and externality of the work ties as factors that can compromise the progress of democratization, equity, and citizenship in the field of health and work ensured by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.

This article seeks to reflect on the use of participatory methodologies in the continuing education of community/health workers, in a discussion about the limits and possibilities of such methodologies, encouraging reflections and possible changes in these professionals’ daily practices. Transect interviews and walks were carried out with the agents, which resulted in the rapporteurs that used as material for analyses. It would be no simple task to measure the impact that this methodology has on the process of building reflective thought, but the analysis of the potential of participatory methodologies in the training activities aimed at community health workers allowed us to realize that there was empowerment with regard to the themes addressed. It was possible to understand how significant the methodologies have shown to be in addressing the issues, especially with regard to the ‘prevention of disease and promotion of health’ and to ‘gender violence.’ In sum, the fact that something can be realized with other meanings and senses allows other modes of production of daily practices.

This article aims to analyze the work of Brazilian author Carlos Rodrigues Brandão as related to the field of education and participatory research, highlighting his theoretical assumptions and establishing relationships with the field of healthcare. We conducted a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive investigation, using literature research as a methodological procedure. 'Education' was the main theoretical category. Additionally, we obtained the following empirical categories arising from textual analysis: 'Educations;' 'always learn from each other;' 'a participatory anthropology;' 'freedom, autonomy, and hope;' 'participatory research;' 'dialog: (Re)construction of knowledge or construction of knowledge;' 'research, knowledge, and time;' 'The sense of the word: the right to pronounce the meaning of the world.' We checked important foundations of a critical conception of education that can contribute as a basis for democratic health practices, such as the idea of 'dialog' as a pedagogical cornerstone that enables interaction processes among individuals and the social construction of knowledge.