Desafios à atuação do serviço social na saúde no contexto da pandemia do COVID 19

Abstract

This paper studies the role of social work in the health sector. It aims to analyze the challenges posed to social work in health, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The methodological procedure used was bibliographical and documentary research, with the empirical material that constituted the corpus of the research being the analysis of the following documents: CFESS Manifest (2020); Normative Guidance No. 03/2020; Law No. 8.080, of September 19, 1990; Law No. 8. 142, of 28 December 1990; Parameters for the Practice of Social Workers in Health (2009). This study initially presents a critical debate indicating the socio-historical relations that determined the construction and trajectory of health policy to the present day, such as the Health Reform, as well for its materialization. It then discusses the context of the Counter-Reform of the State and the governmental impacts on governments from Collor to Bolsonaro, analyzing the problems that neoliberal measures have posed for Health and for Health users. Finally, it gives visibility to the challenges faced by Social Workers, in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic, in their work on the front line of the fight against the disease, specifically in meeting the daily demands of users of public health services. The study reveals that social, economic and territorial inequalities continued to be obstacles to the realization of the right to health and that, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Social Workers were called upon to reorganize their practices and develop innovative strategies to ensure that users' real needs were met. It concludes that the pandemic has aggravated the inequalities and vulnerabilities that exist in Brazilian society, requiring a more assertive intervention on the part of these professionals, in order to face new challenges that have emerged in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially related to the lack of resources and precarious working conditions; the overload of demands, the lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and exposure to the risk of contamination, directly impacting the work of professionals in the field. In this sense, it can be inferred that Social Workers, even in the face of the great challenges posed to the professional category, have bravely resisted, confronting the expressions of the social question and advancing ethically and politically. Unfortunately, some professionals have lost their lives at this juncture, but the professional category has not given up critically reflecting on the role of the Social Worker and acting critically in a context of job insecurity, in the midst of a deep economic and health crisis in the country