O profissional de educação física e o contexto do trabalho em equipe no setor da saúde: uma análise das interações interprofissionais

Abstract

The literature regarding the study of professional groups has considers as relevant points for the consolidation of a profession mainly the acquisition of professional prestige and social recognition, especially resulting from a theoretical basis of knowledge. In this study, we investigated how the interactions between physical education professionals and other groups working in teams were established within the health sector. We opted for a methodological approach of qualitative research. Therefore, we counted with the participation of twenty health professionals, inserted in four teams, including physicians, physiotherapists, psychologists, nurses, nutritionists and physical education professionals. Semistructured interviews were used to obtain the data. The questions guide consisted of three major themes on the subject that we set out to investigate: a) working relationships established between physical education professionals and the various professional groups, b) formalized knowledge as an element of hierarchy among the professional groups, and c) labor division in the health sector. To categorize and discuss the data we used a content analysis approach. Upon careful reading of the interviews, we came to seven categories, namely: 1) relevance of physical education knowledge for teamwork in the health sector; 2) interprofessional interactions between physical education practitioners and other groups; 3) medical superiority in working relationships between secondary professions in the health sector; 4) autonomy; 5) relevant issues for a good working relationship; 6) connections between the process of decision making and negotiation in daily work; and 7) forms of communication between those involved. As final considerations: a) the respondents inserted in teams evaluated the knowledge of professional intervention in physical education as being of low complexity, b) the decision-making process took place in the closest area to the central problem, c) the relationships of power and subordination between the leadership in the health area and the secondary professions became evident in the way the referrals were handled within the work; and d) the lack of full autonomy between the professions, except for the physicians who led the tasks in the sector.