This article analyzes the uniqueness of the action of the community health workers when circulating through the territory in the municipality of Porto Alegre, state ofRio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was considered that the meetings between agents and the territory go beyond the requirements and expectations of the health policies. The production of an idealized image of the agents, who are seen as the 'driving force' of the changes expected from Primary Care, was problematized. When analyzing the complexity of the demands in their daily work, the highlight was the multiplicity of care strategies community workers produce. The uniqueness of each territory and of the health and management teams, among several other variables, puts pressure on the agents and other workers who are part of the Family Health Strategy teams to face a reality that is very different from the one that one may suppose exists. Therefore, the emphasis was on the importance of producing a critical and reflexive position, calling into question the limits and possibilities of this practice in order to enhance the care strategies in use there.
community health workers; live work in act; primary health care and care strategies