DIALOGUES ON THE “SCHOOL OF LIFE”: DECOLONIZING THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS (CHW) FACING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

This work presents a reflection on local experiences of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus based on dialogues with a community health worker in Conde, a Brazilian coastal town. Initially, we strived for a horizontal dialogue between the authors - including the worker herself - acknowledging and drawing on her experience in the production of knowledge. Then, we discussed the difficulties which Community Health Workers (CHW) dealt with while facing the pandemic in the context of Primary Care. From bureaucratic stonewalls faced by those who were not initially considered frontline essential workers, to the difficulties in understanding the virus, the interviews with this CHW threw light on how the authority given to her by the community – and by herself – was a tool to overcome institutional barriers. This externalized her protagonism and her local and prompt response to state inaction when attending to those in greater need, highlighting the contrast between biomedical knowledge and preventive healthcare, the latter of which is the cornerstone of the CHW’s profession.