Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: BRUNNO ALVES DE LUCENA

THE PRIMARY CARE WORKER AND THE PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACTS RESULTING FROM HIS PERFORMANCE IN TIMES OF PANDEMICS.

Keywords: Primary Health Care; Worker's health; COVID-19; Mental health.

The aim of this study was to analyze the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic scenario entails for the mental health of primary care workers in a city in the interior of Rio Grande do Norte. This is a descriptive and exploratory study with a qualitative approach. Data collection took place between the months of December 2020 and March 2021. The data investigated in this study were obtained through a semi-structured interview, carried out through telephone contact, in which the professionals answered the questions verbally and subsequently were transcribed, ensuring ethical rigor as to the anonymity and confidentiality of the participants. The treatment and analysis of the speeches were performed using the Interface de R pour Analyzes Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionneires (IRAMUTEQ) which performs quantitative analysis of textual data based on contexts and content classes based on similarity of vocabulary or used in similar contexts associating to the same lexical. 

From the classification of categories by IRAMUTEQ, they were interpreted, through the technique of content analysis, going through the steps pointed out by Bardin, in order to extract the relevant content for discussion based on the literature. This study was licensed by the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences of Trairí (FACISA) / Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte – UFRN according to CAAE: 3978540.9.0000.5568 and opinion number 4.428,312. Among the workers participating in the research, there was a predominance of females (70.0%), aged between 31 and 40 years (55.0%), being married or in a stable relationship (75.0%). As for the level of education, there was a predominance of professionals who attended high school (55.0%). Most of the population studied, work as community health agents (25.0%), with a workload of 40 hours a week (85.0%), with a monthly income of up to 3 minimum wages (70.0%), with more than 10 years of experience in the Basic Health Unit (45.0%).

From the lexical analysis by CDH of IRAMUTEQ, four dendrograms were unveiled with the following themes: Class 1: Heroes or Villains? which highlights the social stigma and discriminatory behaviors suffered by primary care workers participating in this research, as well as the social processes of exclusion, resulting from the creation of prejudices and the potentiation of stereotypes linked to negative attitudes and beliefs directed at these workers. Class 2: "Illness in work management" based on the interviewees' reports on the changes that have taken place in professional relationships, the increase in demand requests, in different management models, variable remuneration, increased controls and processes records as a result of the pandemic. Class 3: "between suffering and pleasure", which presents reports resulting from the worker's relationship with the work process in primary care during the course of the pandemic, considering the experiences of pleasure, suffering, exhaustion, satisfaction and illness and the class 4: called “The pains I bring here in my chest”, which sought to analyze terms in the interviewees' speech that refer to possible repercussions on their mental health, correlating with aspects of the literature referring to the topic.

It is concluded that through this research it was possible to understand the interference and impacts of the work process during the course of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the mental health of primary care workers. It is hoped that this research can support the development of public policies to promote and care strategies aimed at the collective of health workers.