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Today's intensification of labor is part of the industrial transformations under way in Brazil since the 1990s, involving changes in the social production of auto workers' strain and epidemiological profile. Accident- and disease-related absenteeism is an important indicator of auto workers' strain, with relevance to the health field. The study aims to analyze the intensification of labor and its health implications from the perspective of the health-disease process, based on workers' perceptions at an automobile assembly plant in the ABC Industrial Belt of São Paulo. Workers were asked about the obstacles to returning to work following work-related accidents or diseases (commonly referred to as "compatible" workers). We conducted six visits to the plant and 20 interviews with assembly line workers. Data were collected from March 2010 to November 2014. The results depict the social figure of the "compatible" worker, a "compound fracture" in the production process, expressed as the intensification of labor, characterized by an intense work pace, denser work, extended workdays, and heavy stress, while simultaneously pointing to a trend toward laying off "compatible" workers. The study contributes to the search for knowledge on the intensification of labor and its health implications. We hope to have produced backing for further research on determination of the health-disease process, based on the incorporation of workers' experience.

Near-peer teaching is an educational format which utilizes tutors who are more advanced in a curriculum's content to supervise students' activities and to act as instructors in laboratory settings. This format is often used in anatomy laboratory courses. The goal of the present study is to describe the design and implementation of near-peer teaching in an anatomy course and to evaluate students' perceptions of the program. A total of 700 students were registered for this anatomy course which employed near-peer instructors. Of enrolled students, 558 (79.7%) agreed to participate in this study. In general, the practical section (e.g., the clinical hour, image-based anatomy session, and gross anatomy laboratory) of the course was viewed more favorably compared to the theory section (54.8%, n = 306), with dissection and prosection in the laboratory rated as the most valued experiences (34.9%, n = 195). Near-peer teaching is a viable option that satisfies the demands of modern curricula using small groups. This format stimulates learning within courses that have large numbers of students and low faculty-to-student ratios., (Copyright © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.)

The experience of Collective Ombudsman developed in the Leopoldina region, city of Rio de Janeiro, enlarges the traditional vision of health vigilance and consists in organizing a system of qualitative evaluation of the sanitary vigilance able to identify the health problems of the population and the methods utilized in the attempt to overcome these problems. Health professionals, religious and community leaders congregated in monthly forums to present and discuss living conditions perceived in the communities in which they carry on their activities. From the point of view of the social dimensions involved in the health-illness processes, this work aims to discuss the way that poverty compromises the popular classes' health, especially for the mental health and the "diffuse suffering". The methodology allowed us to organize, in a systematic way, the listening and favored the recognition of local knowledge, constructed from the life experiences of the people who deal with the suffering, the illness and their determinants on the life conditions of the poor population. The precarious living conditions for a significant part of the population were perceived as generating impasses in the resolution of their health problems. The results point towards the importance of understanding the health problems of the population, the resources utilized to face them and proposals for possible solutions in the field of health.

This article describes the collective construction of a research instrument (interview guideline) for investigating the knowledge of chagasic patients attended at the Chagas Disease Reference Center of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. A multi-professional team worked sequentially on six versions of the guideline for semi-structured interviews. The instrument aims collecting data for a qualitative approach to concepts and perceptions of the patients from the perspective of the human relationships in the context of life and health. It detects the individual experiences regarding the diseasing process, the knowledge about the disease (and the infection), the emotions, reactions, and affections. Some theoretical aspects were discussed based on sociological and anthropological practices used in public health actions. We performed a complete interview with a patient for testing and adjusting the instrument. The interview guideline was tested and showed to be a suitable instrument for investigating the knowledge of chagasic patients, covering many subjective and cognitive aspects. This knowledge can be a useful contribution to the development of strategies, actions and information material aimed at improving and humanizing the care delivered to Chagas disease patients.

This paper is the outcome of a bibliographical review that aims at systemizing references in the literature to concepts involved in the training and work processes of community health agents under the Community Health Agent Program (PACS) and the Family Health Program. Published in scientific journals, manuals and official documents through to October 2004, 504 articles were consulted, of which 49 were selected and examined in full. The findings were systematically arranged under four themes, reviewing controversial aspects raised by authors, outstanding among which are: the 'discourse of change' statements in official documents, defining the Family Health Program as a reorientation strategy for the Primary Healthcare Model; the scope and ambiguity of understandings of the role of mediator and definitions of the duties and responsibilities of Community Healthcare Agents, as well as the gaps in their training.