Adoecimento físico e mental de assistentes sociais inseridos na rede pública de saúde em setores de urgência e emergência

Abstract

The Social Service of the Emergency and Urgency Network of the SUS faces several challenges in its professional practice, characterized by exhausting workdays, work overload, scarcity of resources and institutional pressure given the high complexity of this level of care, which increases the emergence of physical and mental illness in professionals. This study is the product of qualitative research and has as its general objective to analyze the working conditions of social workers working in this socio-occupational space, which result in the physical and mental illness of the category. The specific objectives include: highlighting the challenges that social workers of the Emergency and Urgency Network face in the exercise of their profession; promoting debate about the underfunding of health policy; and identifying the risk factors that influence the emergence of the main occupational diseases in this sector. The research is based on the perspective of dialectical historical materialism, with an emphasis on bibliographic review through the analysis of normative documents and academic productions in the field of Social Service. The results indicate that the overload of working hours, lack of institutional support and shortage of material and human resources contribute to the physical and mental illness of social workers, such as: RSI/WMSD, sleep disorders, burnout syndrome, low back pain, migraines, depression, anxiety attacks, nervous and digestive disorders. In this understanding, this article proposes reflections on professional appreciation and the urgency of strategies to prevent occupational risks, to contribute to the promotion of a less precarious work environment.