Symbolic capital of the work of the female health visitors of the Public Health Service Foundation in the State of Alagoas, Brazil

Abstract This study of a historical nature analyzes the work of health visitors of the Public Health Service Foundation in Alagoas between 1960 and 1990 and the symbolic capital attributed to them. Documental and oral sources were used, the latter produced in interviews conducted using thematic oral history, given by the visitors, the physician and nurse. The information was analyzed based on the concepts of habitus, field, symbolic capital and distinction of Pierre Bourdieu, and revealed that health visitors were relevant in the healthcare of the communities where they worked with distinctive approaches to inculcate health practices through home visits and authority to reconfigure the hygienic habitus of families. This activity gave them symbolic power and capital legitimized by the community.