Objective: To describe the working conditions and tasks of health workers in the health training unit of family medicine in Catalonia, Spain.
Methods: Cross-sectional study.
Results: Fifty-three public health workers were located. Forty responses were obtained, of which 29 were complete. More than half the health technicians in the Catalan Health Service had temporary contracts. Their main tasks were teaching, providing methodological assistance in research, and auditing healthcare services and healthcare workers. Health technicians wanted more precise job definition and better working conditions. Although a small proportion believed coordination of primary care and public health to be very difficult, most would take part in it.
Conclusions: The main issues for public health workers were work instability, better salaries, and greater job definition. Coordination between primary care and public health was considered desirable.