A política de humanização e a estratégia saúde da família: visões e vivências

This study approaches the topic of humanization in health that involves the set of policies implemented by the Ministry of Health in Brazil. Its aims are directed towards a reflection on the guiding theoretical and organizing axes of the National Humanization Policy (NHP) and their repercussions on municipal health policy of Natal, Brazil; an analysis of the results of the policy at the local level; knowledge of the views and experiences of the humanization agents in the daily work process and identification of the main challenges of the policy. The empirical field of investigation was the Family Health Strategy (FHS) of the city of Natal. The assumption of the study is that the FHS has produced local experiences with potentialities that must not be wasted, in which there are difficulties and discrepancies between the real and proposed model. The contradictions and challenges in the social and political context of Brazil in the early XXI century and their consequences in the field of health reflect anti-utilitarian aspects anchored strongly in the theoretical concepts of Boaventura de Sousa Santos about the sociology of privations and emergencies as well as of the work of translating. The predominantly qualitative approach collects some complementary quantitative data. The study procedures used were the following: bibliographic research; documental research; interviews; and direct observation. Interpretation of the information obtained was based on documental analysis and on the symbolic cartography of the social representations. Cartographic evidence suggests that practices still take place under dehumanizing conditions that compromise the quality of care given. However, there is a movement aimed at changing the work process that has been strengthening the link and widening the measures developed, incorporating new directions in diversity, integrality and solidarity. The map drawn shows a reality manifested by explicit intentions in a political agenda, by concrete solutions marked by an assortment of difficulties and expressed in the words of the agents and by latent clues identified in successful local experiences, posing many challenges for the consolidation of the proposed changes

Desenvolvimento e assistência social : uma avaliação da efetividade da política de assistência social nos municípios de Assú e Mossoró (2004 -2008)

This thesis, whose title is DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE: AN EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION IN SOCIAL ASSISTENCE POLICY IN THE CITIES OF ASSÚ AND MOSSORÓ/RN (2004/2008), has as main aim to evaluate effectiveness in Social Assistance Policy in the cities of Assu and Mossoró/RN, from 2004 to 2008, identifying its impacts and effects in life of its users. The methodological process for the research was composed by: a) Literature review on this theme, development of public policies; social public policies, public policy evaluation and Social Assistance Policy in Brazil; b) Documental research from Municipal Management of Social Development and Municipal Counsels of Social Assistance in the cities of Assu and Mossoró/RN about the object of this study and empirical field; c) Field Research constituted by the realization of Focal Groups with Social Assistance users and semistructured interviews with municipal managers from Assú and Mossoró. It was also taken into account participant observations in events and activities related to Social Assistance previously mentioned, considering field management and also the response to users demands. Articulating the themes of Development and Public Social Policy in Social Assistance was the theoretical purpose for this thesis. To achieve this purpose, it was performed two theoretical displacements related, at the same time, to the notion of development and to the concept of Social Assistance, which means to comprehend development as social change and improvement in users life quality, expressed in the expansion of their capacities and liberties (SEN, 1993, 2000), and the Social Assistance as an element for development. Such displacements provide a view of Public policy and Social Policies and evaluate National Policy of Social Assistance achieved in those cities. As product, this thesis presents a methodological purpose for effectiveness evaluation in Public Policy, taking into account expansion of capacities and liberties, concluding that Social Assistance Policy in Assú and Mossoró/RN, even in lesser extent had its impact and caused effective results in the life of their users and provided an expansion of their capacities and liberties, improving life quality and empowered agent condition for those subjects. The results show that this Policy has been proved to be effective, and consequently, it was considered, in this thesis, to be also an element and an allied for development

Assistência a mulher com câncer de mama em um cenro de referência no Estado da Paraíba

The assistance to women who have breast cancer is studied in a Reference Center in Paraiba and also the way this assistance is performed in a School Hospital maintained by SUS (Single Health System) is questioned. Breast cancer demands institutional organization, provision of financial, material and human resources, requiring, from the health system, effective assistance with new technologies which make it possible for the population their access to specialized medical services although it not always is able to guarantee those services nor the rights which the legislation granted them, inhibiting a proper relationship between the health professional and the patient. The theme is discussed through a transdisciplinary knowledge view and has as its theoretical referential the contribution of classical and contemporary authors from the human and social sciences and, as an empirical research strategy, the structured interview. The objectives of the research were: identify how the assistance to women with breast cancer is carried on at a Reference Center on Oncology in Campina Grande, Paraiba, identifying their difficulties and their satisfaction with the received assistance; draw up a profile of the women with breast cancer who were assisted in this Reference Center; understand their gynecological and obstetric antecedents, life styles, age group and stage of the disease when the treatment started; check their knowledge about their rights and which benefits they had received. Most women ranged between 40 and 59 years old (63%), which corresponds to the risk range of developing breast cancer. As to their occupations, 38.3% were housewives and 30.1% retired, whose family income was among those who received between less than a minimum salary and one minimum salary (58.2%). This population was mainly constituted of married women (60.2%), whose most frequent schooling was an incomplete elementary school (27.6%) and complete elementary school (24.1%), which added up to 51.6%. It was observed that the majority of the women seemed to be satisfied with the assistance received, noting that a minimum care was enough to define this satisfaction, although it is perceived that the access to the health system does not ensure the ideal attention conditions they need; it was verified that the availability of the services and the assistance itself are seen (in the local culture) as a favor and not as a right. It is also observed that only 30% of the women mentioned that they knew about their rights and the most mentioned ones were the disease assistance (13%), the medicines (13%) and the treatment (12%), which represent the most important triad to face the disease and around which the oncologic assistance most focus on. It is concluded that the condition of the users´ minimum existential of a public health unit and the condition of belonging to a lower social stratum were variables that influenced the respondents´ satisfaction in relation to the assistance received but the importance of the Reference Center for the women with breast cancer´s assistance for the whole region cannot be denied as well as the need to broaden the way the policy of the oncologic assistance in Brazil in the local realm is seen

Política de assistência social no Brasil: uma análise a partir das tipologias de políticas públicas

The study of public policy typologies is still a knowledge field which lacks more embracing and applicable studies to different sectors. On that perspective, this work, Social Assistance Policy in Brazil: an analysis from the typologies on public policy, pursues to add the relevant literature to social assistance what focus on the public policy ratings. Moreover, it concerns about a study on the the national policy of social assistance implemented by the Brazilian government from the theoretical referrence of the public policy typologies. For that reason, the referential framework of the public policies as well as the analisys of its fundamentals/principles that are indispensable for achieving a bigger goal, that is to tipify the social assistance policy based on the different public policy typologies and characterize it through the main elements which are intrinsec to the social political and economic reality of Brazil. Thus, the issue suggested for the work is: what is the profile and the political trajectory of the social assistance implemented by the Brazilian Government? How it presents, above all, the features of a distributive, focused and lawful policy, the work has been done througho the following hypothesis: the social assistance policy in Brazil has been of universal, assistance, and focusing aspects. For each of those features granted to the social assistance policy, there is a gathering of changes according to the social, political and economic moment of the country and that stands out due to the different institutions within every cyclical period. The work showed that besides the social policy has gone through meaningful changes during the last decades, even though the adoption of the Organic Law of Social Assistance and its rules, some of the mentioned characteristics still remain, as long as the State s primacy goes on being the economic policies over the dubbed social policies. Notwithstanding, the social assistance will build up itself from the materialization of the growing of the social rights related to the State, but also assuming an important role on the amplified reproducing process regarding the capitalist social relations

O renascimento do parto e da (reinvenção da) emancipação social na blogosfera brasileira: contra o desperdício das experiências

The birth models of care are discussed, in the light of classical and contemporary social science theoretical background, emphasizing the humanistic model. The double spiral of the sociology of absences and the sociology of emergences is detailed, being based, on one hand, on the translation of experiences of knowledge, and, on the other, on the translation of experiences of information and communication, by revealing the movement articulated by Brazilian women on blogs that defend and bring into light initiatives aiming to recover natural and humanized birth. A cartography of the thematic ideas in birth literature is produced, resulting in the elaboration of a synthetic map on obstetric models of care in contemporaneity, pointing out the consequences of the obstetric model that has become hegemonic in contemporary societies, and comparing that model to others that work more efficaciously to mothers and babies. A symbolic cartography of the activism for humanizing birth on the Brazilian blogosphere is configured by the elaboration of an analytical map synthetizing the main mottos defended by the movement: Normal humanized birth; Against obstetrical violence; and Planned home birth. The superposition of the obstetric models of care s map and the rebirth of birth s analytical map indicates it is necessary to reinforce three main measures in order to make a paradigmatic turn in contemporary birth models of care possible: pave the way for the humanistic care of assistance in normal birth, by defending and highlighting practices and professionals that act in compliance with evidence based medicine, respecting the physiology of birth; denaturalize obstetric violence, by showing how routine procedures and interventions can be means of aggression, jeopardizing the autonomy, the protagonism and the respect towards women; and motivate initiatives of planned home birth, the best place for the occurrence of holistic experiences of birth. It is concluded that Internet tools have allowed a pioneer mobilization in respecting women s reproductive rights in Brazil and that the potential of the crowd s biopower that resides on the blogosphere can turn blogs into a hegemonic alternative way to reach more democratic forms of social organization. In that condition of being virtually hegemonic in contesting the established power, these blogs can be understood, therefore, as potentially great contra-hegemonic channels for the rebirth of birth and for the reinvention of social emancipation, as their author s articulate and organize themselves to strive against the waste of experience, trying to create reciprocal intelligibility amongst different experiences of world

O município brasileiro e o direito fundamental do acesso à justiça: a prestação da assistência jurídica municipal ao necessitado

This scholarly work aims to investigate the feasibility and constitutionality of access to justice through the provision of full and free legal assistance by the Brazilian municipalities. Investigates the historical aspects of federalism in a global context, emphasizing the contributions left by American federalism. In the Brazilian context, emphasizing the importance of municipalities as federal entities and their outstanding characteristics, while addressing regional issues of federalism. Leanings to the more detailed analysis of the Brazilian municipalities, contextualizing its legal status, its independence and its constitutional powers. It is emphasized in the same way, the relevant transformations of Brazilian municipalities over the last twenty years of this Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil in 1988, especially the various constitutional amendments that affected the local autonomy and budgetary aspects, fiscal and skills, bringing significant changes to the municipalities. It is an approach to the concept of justice and deepening the studies on the fundamental right of access to justice in its various connotations. In this vein, it is a study on the legal advice provided in Brazil, especially the powers of the Public Defender of the States and Union, as well as the provision of such public service by Brazilian municipalities and its relevance to citizens in need. At this point, it deepens the relevance of the theme of this dissertation earning the implications of municipal performance in the provision of legal assistance provided to the needy, and the activity of the Municipal Attorney or legal counsel in conducting such a task and its implications for legal and procedural especially on the constitutionality or otherwise of the conduct of such public service, confronting the constitutional articles that are correlated with the subject. Within this context, evaluates the municipal legal assistance under the test of constitutionality, in particular the assistance given by the Executive, through the Municipal Attorney or specialized secretariats and that provided by the Legislature, although it only has the typical functions of legislating and control the municipal accounts, comes in a few municipalities in Brazil deploying sectors with the performance of legal services to the needy. At this point the thesis, one wonders if some important aspects of this activity such as political influence and patronage, very common in day-to-day municipal prosecutors and legal advisers, public employees or occupying commissioned positions within the municipal administrative structure in several municipalities throughout Brazil. Finally, there will be a conclusion as to the constitutionality of the service being done by presenting proposals and recommendations that may improve the municipal legal aid, allowing a constitutional backing to this important service is being provided in capital cities and municipalities throughout the length of Brazil

Representações sociais, relações de gênero e programas de assistência e educação à saúde da mulher no climatério em Natal/RN

Climacteric is the name of the period of the human life that it is going from the 40 years old, approximately, until the 65 years old. Though, for besides a biological phase of the woman's life, the climacteric is an object of the social world that is rendered to different apprehensions and readings on the symbolic plan. In this study, it was looked for to know the social representations, that health' professionals acting in the programs of the climacteric and the users of those same services, build in respect of that purpose. Besides, it tried to be seen that the social hegemonic representation that guides the actions and the agents' attitudes in the practices of attendance and education for the woman's health in the climacteric in the extent of the investigated institutions. The data were collected through interviews, questionnaire, focal discussion group and direct observation. The observation field was constituted by the three institutions that develop the attendance and education for the woman's health in the climacteric phase, in the city of Natal. A gender perspective was also been adopted, sought to evidence as the cognitive structures that assure the masculine power reproduction, pronounce to the social representations to build a sense to the investigated purpose. It was verified that the social representations of the climacteric are built mainly around the semantic fields old age and disease. For the health professionals, the meaning of the simbol old age carries the marks of the indentified system of the middle class employed, but also, of the feminine habitus that guides them to have an ethical and aesthetic apprehension of their own body. The climacteric, in that way, is seen as a difficult phase , a painful event that scares . For the women attended by those professionals, the sign old age means feeling emphasis from the biological climacteric aspects, in other words, the sensations and signs that forbid the body to accomplish certain linked basic life functions. Along the whole course of this thesis, it was verified that the climacteric is a complex phenomenon that needs to be faced as such. While cultural phenomenon, it is urgent to look for means to help to combat the centrality of the professional representations that face the climacteric as old age and disease, particularly in the field of health

Representações Sociais do ser idoso e suas implicações na assistência e nas práticas educativas voltadas à população idosa residente em Natal/RN

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

As ações político-pedagógicas do Serviço de Assistência Rural-SAR

This program resumes the history of the political-pedagogic actions on the Serviço de Assistência Rural SAR, of Natal archdiocese, and analyses the contributions of this actions on the process of rural workers organization in the social movements on the countryside. The educative actions of the RAS are happening in a permanent tension between the pedagogic project of a church in change and, a pedagogy of the groups, communities and social movements, that is centered in the cultural action, in the culture lived from its condition of citizens. This research reveals that this entity fulfilled a strategic attribution for the Natal s church on the formation of the community leaderships, at a first moment and leaderships for social movements. Before the military dictatorship, the work methodology of this entity had as priority, begin from the reality leaved by the rural workers in the expectation that these became to qualify themselves for a more citizen participation in the call development. During the military regime, the entity goes measuring theirs activities in the new context, until the moment that redefines the work line. Goes then defining regions and thematic of operation supporting the fights for land, salary campaigns, women agricultural workers organizations. The pedagogy of work has as one of its supporters the Paulo Freire s pedagogy, privileging the dialog as a source of production of knowledge from the reality leaved in a permanent transformation. The actions of this entity, with the groups and social movements, produces the necessary knowledge for the organization of the rural workers while individual and social subjects of a changing world. The process of action-reflection of the activities intended, by a creative form, a permanent production of strategies of fight of the workers. Research ever, not to make accommodate itself to the new knowledge acquired in the action-reflection it is part of the pedagogical idea of this Institution. One searched in this process of formation of the man and the woman to question the reality, to create actionreflection-action spaces on the fights for a possible transition of an ingenuous conscience for a critical conscience, in view of the transformation of the structures that oppresses them

Vivências de familiares do paciente internado em unidade de terapia intensiva: estudo fenomenológico

This study originated from my concerns as critical care nurse, regarding the lived experience of the family member of the patient that is hospitalized in the intensive care unit - ICU. The purpose of the study was to comprehend the experience of the family members while having a loved one interned in an ICU, and to identify the common elements of the phenomenon, based on the descriptions of their experiences. Considering that the object of study involves subjective and social questions, the study was conducted using some fundamental ideas of descriptive phenomenology as a referential and the situated phenomenon as suggested by Martins and Bicudo (1989). Ten (10) family members of patients that were interned in the ICU of private hospital in Natal, RN were interviewed using the following leading question: What is it like to have a member of your family interned in the ICU? Five thematic structural categories emerged from the comprehensive analysis of the interviews: Fear of the family member s death; Lack of humanization; Social isolation; Confidence in the ICU; and Overload to the personal life. The description of the phenomenon enabled a new look at how the care team relates to the family members of the patients interned in the ICU, providing some guidance on how to construct a humanized care that involves the family and that is based on affective human relations. This involves a rethinking of the care provided by team to the family and stimulates the reformulation of personal and social attitudes, and of hospital organizational norms

Avaliação da qualidade da assistência aos portadores de úlceras venosas atendidos no ambulatório de um hospital universitário em Natal/RN

Study descriptive that was designed to assess the quality of care for people with venous ulcers (VUs) tended at the ambulatory of a university hospital in Natal / RN. The target population of the study was composed by 40 users bearers of venous ulcers served in the ambulatory of angiology of a university hospital in the level of tertiary education. The study received assent of the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Protocol No. 169/06). The collect of data was performed using a form of interview and tour with collection of measures biophysiologic, for a team comprised by the researchers and an academic of nursing, in the period of three months. The data were analyzed in SPSS 14.0, using descriptive statistics and presented in the form of charts, tables and graphs. Identified a clientele of holders of VUs predominantly female, married, aged up to 59 years, low level of education and household income, from Natal, retirees or those exercising professions and occupations that require long periods standing or sitting. In relation to the characteristics of health, those surveyed had risk factors for venous disease and had UVs chronic, located in Zone 2, lost tissue in grade II and serous exudates on average quantity. The assistance to holders of UVs has been characterized by a lack of professional nurses and unavailability of products for the realization of the right curative in ambulatory and outside it; by the inadequacy of products used in VUs, for long periods of treatment without resolution, where the compressive therapy is not priority, by the lack of completeness in the levels of assistance; by monitoring the bearer of UVs only by doctors and the nurses, even with the other team of professionals in the health service; by the completion of guidelines by health professionals and the lack the standardization of conducting laboratory and specifics tests. The assistance was assessed as inadequate in aspects: reference and counter-reference (75.0%), number of consultations with angiologists last year (87.5%), documentation of the clinical findings (85.0%), use of compressive therapy in the past 30 days (77.5%), part of the team interdisciplinary (97.5%), completion of laboratory and specifics tests in the last year (100%), availability of products used in achieving the curative in ambulatory (80, 0%), and indication of products used in the conduct of dressing outside the clinic (70.0%) and appropriate in the guidelines made on the use of socks, lifting of the members and prescription of exercises regular (82.5%) and indication products used in achieving the curative in ambulatory (97.5%). We conclude that the assistance provided to holders of UV was inadequate in 80% of cases interviewed, becoming non-resolutive and assistematic

Vivendo o bem estar no desconhecido: experiência da mulher com a presença do acompanhante no processo de parto

The humanization of the birth process is a current health policy priority. Within that perspective, the presence of a partner during the birth is a benefit guaranteed by the Law 111008/05. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the woman s experience with the presence of a birth partner as a legal right. It is a qualitative descriptive study based on Symbolic Interactionism and conducted using the grounded theory methodology. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews conducted during August to December 2006, with women that had the presence of a partner during their birth experience and that were in the first 24 hours of puerperium. Data analysis resulted in the identification of the phenomena: FEELING GOOD, RECOGNIZING THE BOND WITH THE PARTNER, RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EXPERIENCE and NOT KNOWING THE RIGHT. These enabled the identification of the central phenomenon LIVING THE WELL-BEING IN THE UNKNOWN. The study demonstrated that the birth experience with the presence of partner is a positive one, resulting in benefits such as tranquility, support, and assurance, which, in that context, signify well-being. However, the women do not visualize the experience as a right, therefore remaining alienated from their civic practice. The understanding of the experience was enabled by the conceptual construction obtained from the categories of the interactions between the women and their birth partners during the event. The explanation of the phenomenon LIVING THE WELL-BEING IN THE UNKNOWN reflects the theoretical structure obtained from the integration of the identified concepts. The study points out the need for health professionals to improve the information given to women during the birth process and to work the civic duties of the women in reproductive health

Saúde da família: uma estratégia de mudança no processo de produção dos serviços de saúde

The purpose of this study is to analyze, from the point of view of nurses, changes that took place in the process of providing health services after the introduction of the Family Health Program (FHP). It is na investigation of qualitative nature that uses semi-structured interviews as a main empirical approach tool. Six nurses from the city of Caicó, Rio Grande do Norte, who were working with basic care before the introduction of the FHP, within basic care, were: adscription and ties with the community; hospitality and the humanizacion of care-giving; decrease in cases of inpatient treatment; strengthening of the prevention of injuries and health promotion; improvemente of health indicatiors, finally, actions that point towads meeting the principles of wholeness, equity and universality as a declaration of the Brazilian National Health Care System (SUS). Nevertheless, in spite of all recognizable positive aspects, the FHP has some weaknesses, such as: the difficulty posed by colletive work; the mismatch between professional education and the demands of the current health standard; a poor physical infrastructure of the Basic Health Units; a high heath staff turnover and precarious work conditions. In addition to this, some strategies that can be used to help improve the process of providing health services have been pointed out, such as, coordination between sectors, continuous education, making work conditions less precarious and improving the means whereby heathy service management is conveyed,Tthus, finally, we understand that the FHP does bring forward meaningful changes to the process of provinding health services to strengthen the Brasilian National Health Care System (SUS), in spite of the fact that it lies within a scenario of adversities that can be overcome through the collective endeavor of the several social actors

A banalização da injustiça social no cotidiano de trabalho : a propósito da violência no trabalho e ameaça à saúde do trabalhador

Analyzes the factors that unleash violence by banalization of the problems and health questions of workers in a federal public institution, in Natal/RN. It analyzes transformations in the world of the work, with its politic, social and economic determinatives and its relation to the worker health. Boarding the violence in the work enviroment and its implications to the worker health, focusing on the banalization of problems faced by the workers as a kind of violence in and with the work. It was chosen an analitic methodology with qualitative approach, through the collection tecnic and information analyzes according to the thematic oral history, with recorders of authorized personal narratives, through individual interview with a semi-structured guide. In the analyzis of results it were made empiric cathegories: the daily work enviroment and its influence to the worker profession and life; the violence presents in the work enviroment and its consequences to the worker life and health; the banalization of the social injustice, due to violence against the worker that broked their dreams concerned to the nursing contribution. The results revealed the ordinary work of these workers showing enviromental and organizational unhealthy conditions, caracterized by physical and tecnical insecurity; absence and disqualification of instrumental and human supplies; overload and complexity service; bad distribution of the duties and pressure to the deadline and productivity, producing tension, conflict and anxiety related to the users, colleagues, superiors and to the duties. In the work enviroment, it were identified a external violence, caracterized by physical and verbal aggresion, psychic suffering, worker depreciation; and internal, caracterized by: moral and psychological molestations and accupational structural violence. These kinds of violence bring consequences to the life, that is, professional, economic and moral order of factors and to the health by biological, mental and emocional factors. The banalization of social injustice during the daily work was discussed in the aspects of banalization of problems and work conditions, the health, qualification banalizations and professional valorization. The workers expectatives pointed out to the necessity of: secure conditions of work; trainning and tecnical assistance; politics of attention to the physical, mental and social health to the workers and their family. We conclude the enviromental and organizational conditions of the workers interviewed do not offer physical and tecnical security that they need to the execution of their activities, neither offer comfort or physical and psychological satisfactions. The politic the instituition has used points out to the depreciation and inhumanization of them producing feelings as unsatisfaction, frustation and indignation related to the institution and the work, bringing suffering and physical and mental sicking. We noticed the most terrible violence found in the work enviroment is the banalization of social injustice related do the problems and health of these workers, producing a slowly debility and simbolic death of their lifes. Therefore, it is necessary the implementation of a politic that promotes assurance, health and integral education, valorization and humanization of these workers

Hipertensão arterial e fatores de risco em servidores atendidos pelo departamento de assistência da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte

Systemic arterial hypertension is a multifactorial disease that contributes to the country´s high cardiovascular morbi-mortality rates. Considering that hypertension affects individuals in their most productive age while facing work and living risk factors, it is important to investigate its occurrence and predisposing factors in different occupational segments. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of hypertension among workers attended to in a medical service of a public university, their hypertension levels, the risk factors present, and their knowledge of the factors that influence the arterial pressure. The epidemiologic study was conducted in the Health Department of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte with 102 workers that sought care in the medical clinic during the months of March to May 2009. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and measurements of systolic and diastolic arterial pressure (SAP and DAP) that were classified in stages according to the Brazilian Society of Hypertension and the degree of risk for cardiovascular events according to the criteria of the Brazilian Society for Cardiology. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The workers were, on average, 54 years of age; the majority (67%) was male and had primary or middle educational level; they worked mainly in supplemental units and deanship offices conducting different functions such as security guards, administrative assistants, health auxiliaries and constructions workers; 48 (47%) of the workers identified themselves as hypertensive for 8 years on average, with the majority executing hard labor and administrative functions. Among the workers with hypertension, the number of the pressure levels classified as pre-hypertensive, stage I and II were: (12% in the SAP and 20% in the DAP); (16% in the SAP and 9% in the DAP); and (15% in the SAP and 5% in the DAP), respectively. The workers that did not identify themselves as hypertensive presented classifications with greater frequencies were: normal (16% in the SAP and 30% in the DAP); and pre-hypertensive (21% in the SAP and 16% in the DAP). The risk factors identified in more than 50% of the workers were: tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and indices of being overweight, although physical activities are also present. Of the 48 workers diagnosed as hypertensive, those that had 5 risk factors present and limitrophic pressure levels (12%), in stage I hypertension (16%) and stage II hypertension (15¨%) were categorized as being in high risk for vascular events. The number of workers that indicated they had knowledge of the factors that influence their hypertension was less than 39% for each factor. It is concluded that there is a high prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension in the university workers, even amongst those already under treatment. They constitute a population at risk considering their age group, their work functions, and their inadequate life habits. Health care of these hypertensive workers that seek attention in the Health Department is an important aspect of the internal workers health policy in the institution. Educational interventions are recommended for the improvement of quality of life and of work in these workers