Burnout Syndrome in community health agents and coping strategiesstela

Abstract

This research aims to verify the occurrence of the Burnout Syndrome in Community Health Agents (CHA). These professionals work directly in care delivery to other people, and this is a prevalent characteristic in this Syndrome. Another aim is to verify the coping strategies such professionals use. A descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study was carried out. A questionnaire - the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) - and the Ways of Coping Scale (WOCS) were administered. The sample consisted of 80 CHA, randomly chosen among professionals who had been working for at least two years in the municipal public service. The results show that the sample was predominantly female (93.75%), with children (68.75%), belonging to the age group 20-30 years old (35%) and with a steady partner (60%). The per capita income of 38.75% is less than one minimum salary, 53.04% have been working in this job for more than six years and lead a sedentary life. The MBI reveals a feeling of deterioration in the perception of these professionals' own competence and lack of satisfaction with their own work. They present emotional exhaustion, and the incipient development of negative attitudes and cynicism towards the people they deliver care to were noticed. The most used coping strategies are problem-focused ones, followed by the search for religious practices/fantastic thinking. Symptoms of suffering which are typical of the Burnout Syndrome, as well as the effort to seek for mechanisms that help to cope with work-related problems, were observed. Strategies to welcome these professionals are suggested so as to help them deal with suffering at work.