Community Health agents’ practices and conceptions regarding alcohol and other drugs in the potiguar Borborema

Abstract

Historically, humans have used multiple psychoactive substances for a myriad of reasons, meanings, and in different contexts. When discussing this topic, it is essential toone must understand how this demand reaches Brazilian National Health System services, especially in Primary Health Care, and how it relates to Harm Reduction. Thus, this research analyzes how this demand impacts Primary Health Care as perceived by Community Health Agents. An intervention research was conducted in a Basic Health Unit in a municipality from Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Data were collected by means of conversation circles, individual interviews and a research diary and examined by Institutional Analysis. Results showed a hospital-centered, biomedical, restrictive and segregating care involving fragmented work processes in a context social inequalities and violence. Moreover, professionals perceived user demand as limited by various elements such as fear, tensions and silencing regarding the complexity of acting in the territory.