PRÁTICAS DAS AGENTES COMUNITÁRIAS DE SAÚDE EM CONTEXTOS DE EMERGÊNCIAS SOCIOSSANITÁRIAS E AMBIENTAIS: REVISÃO DE ESCOPO

This study aims to map in the literature the practices developed by Community Health Workers (CHWs) in the face of socio-sanitary and environmental emergencies. This is a scoping review carried out in the Lilacs, SciELO, Bireme, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase databases. 32 articles were included from 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and America, which were analyzed by thematic grouping. The practices developed by CHWs in health emergencies concern epidemics or outbreaks of Ebola, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis, and dengue fever; social emergencies from armed conflicts and oil spills; and environmental emergencies, such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. Faced with the various emergencies identified, the actions of the CHWs converge on activities already historically carried out by these professionals, with emphasis on the practices of surveillance, health education and communication, community mobilization, mental health care, pharmaceuticals, and first aid. It is concluded that the CHWs strategically present themselves for the resilience of national health systems as they reorient their work to meet the new social, health, and environmental demands of the territories.