Home Visits in Brazil: characteristics of the baseline activity of Community Health Workers

Abstract

Characterization of home visits performed by Community Health Workers in Brazil. Cross-sectional  study, with random sampling by clusters. 1.526 agents interviewed, distributed in 100 municipalities. The  majority of the agents were women, with complete  secondary education and a median age of 39 years.  Households visits are frequently performed by 99.1%  of the agents, with 67.4% making at least one monthly visit. Visiting families with infants and  pregnant  women at intervals of up to 15 days was reported by  70.4% of the agents; while frequently scheduled visits  with other professionals from the unit were reported  by 40.3%; and 80.9% adopted criteria for its  accomplishment. During visits, more than 45% of the  agents provided information about health services  and reviewed vaccination cards; between 20% and  25% delivered and guided the use of medicines,  weighed children and registered families; less than  20% verified environmental conditions and actively  searched for defaulters. These shortfalls may be  associated with low team participation during the  visit’s planning, indicating problems in the  organization of the agents’ work process.  Nonetheless, the importance of home visits in the  development of actions of health promotion and  injury prevention within the scope of Primary Health  Care is highlighted.