Perceptions of community health agents about users of alcohol and other drugs

Introduction: Chemical dependency has been the center of debates in governmental and non-governmental sectors and presents itself as a serious social and public health problem. Objectives: To investigate the profile of community health agents (CHA) from the city of Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil, and to identify their perceptions regarding the use and abuse of drugs in the territory, as well as the interventions used by these professionals. Material and Methods: This is an exploratory, descriptive, transversal, predominantly qualitative study. The instruments chosen to collect data were a sociodemographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. Results and Discussion: Data were analyzed by the technique of the collective subject discourse. A total of 64 CHA were included, being 98.4% women, 90.6% married, 92.1% Christians, with an average of 11.2 years of study, 4.9 years of labor and an average age of 36,8 years. Data analyzed were grouped into five categories: drugs are one of the biggest problems in the neighborhood, user´s identifications, interventions, training for interventions, and harm reduction. Conclusions: The CHA consider drugs as one of the biggest problems affecting society. However, they feel a lack of training for effective interventions with users. Their social and professional relationships lead to represent the problem as a phenomenon linked to violence and fear, but they also understand that actions must be carried out with the permission and participation of the users and that professionals should be primarily supportive and inclusive. From the CHA perception, it is necessary to seek ways to reduce the harm and to improve health and quality of life of users