Trabalho, saúde mental, qualidade de vida e suporte social de agentes comunitários de saúde durante e pós-pandemia de COVID-19 sob o recorte de gênero

This study aimed to evaluate the mental health, quality of life, social support, and activities by community health workers (CHW) during and after a health crisis under a gender perspective. This multicenter, quantitative, longitudinal study was carried out in eight municipalities in the Brazilian Northeast in 2021 and 2023 with 705 CHW who were paired by propensity score matching, answered a validated questionnaire, and were analyzed under the focus of gender (men and women), time (during and after the COVID-19 pandemic), and interactions between them. The effect of time stemmed from the violence in the territories, developed activities, anxiety about the virus, mental health, and quality of life. The effect of gender stemmed from the reduction of social support (friends) in female CHW and greater performance of home visits and activities of the health in schools program by CHW. The interaction between gender and time stemmed from the reduction of violence against female CHW and an increase in the male gender between the studied periods. Although men and women share the same dilemmas and difficulties in exercising CHW, gender implications fall on female professionals, who show greater physical and emotional exhaustion and susceptibility to illness, especially in times of health crises.