O trabalho do assistente social nas UPAs de Juiz de Fora: especificidades de um espaço sócio-ocupacional

Abstract

The urgency and emergency, especially the Unidades de Pronto Atendimento (UPAs) [Emergency Care Units (PSUs)], occupy important space in the health care network, functioning as a gateway to the system, being places with potential to save lives and alleviate suffering. The objective of this study was to analyze the work of the social worker in the UPAs of Juiz de Fora, seeking to understand the conditions for their accomplishment, the demands, skills, challenges and possibilities, tools and strategies, unveiling the determinations and specificities of the professional exercise in this social-occupational space. For this, besides the theoretical study about the categories that aid in the compression of the object, a field survey was carried out, with a qualitative approach, with social workers who have experience in the work of the emergency and emergency work developed in the three UPAs of the city. The study revealed that the work of social workers has been carried out by means of guaranteeing and enforcing users' rights, surpassing punctual and immediate practices. The lack of planning and evaluation, however, were identified as fragile points of the work of social workers, with the risk of professional action being "devoured" by the rotation and intense flow of care, impacting on the intervention with the users.