WORKERS' HEALTH IN THE FAMILY HEALTH STRATEGY: PLEASURE, SUFFERING, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH OF PROFESSIONAL

Abstract

Introduction: Work constitutes a central dimension in the subjective construction of individuals, and can be a source of pleasure and suffering. In the context of Primary Health Care (PHC), especially in the Family Health Strategy (FHS), technical, organizational, and emotional demands intensify work experiences, impacting the mental health of professionals. Objective: To analyze, in recent scientific production, the experiences of pleasure and suffering at work of FHS professionals and their implications for worker health. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review, conducted based on a previously defined guiding question. The search was carried out using descriptors related to worker health, pleasure and suffering at work, Psychodynamics of Work, Primary Health Care, and Family Health Strategy, combined with Boolean operators. Articles published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, available in full, and addressing PHC or FHS professionals from the perspective of subjective experiences at work were included. The selection process involved successive stages of reading titles, abstracts, and full texts, followed by critical evaluation and interpretative thematic synthesis of the findings, articulated within the framework of Psychodynamics of Work (PT). Results and discussion: The analyzed studies showed a predominance of approaches focused on psychological suffering, highlighting factors such as work overload, precarious working conditions, insufficient resources, and fragility of institutional support, frequently associated with stress and professional burnout. It was observed that the organization of work exerts a significant influence on the configuration of these experiences, directly impacting the physical and mental well-being of workers. Although the emphasis is on illness, experiences of pleasure related to recognition, community ties, and identification with care were also identified, evidencing the dialectical coexistence between pleasure and suffering in the daily life of the Family Health Strategy (ESF). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the organization of work in the Family Health Strategy plays a determining role in the production of health and illness, reinforcing the need for institutional strategies that promote adequate working conditions and consider the subjective dimensions involved in health work.