The health policies in small-sized municipalities in the state of Espírito Santo: between minim teams and multiples projects
Name: EDINEIA FIGUEIRA DOS ANJOS OLIVEIRA
Publication date: 19/06/2009
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| MARIA LUCIA TEIXEIRA GARCIA | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| MARIA LUCIA TEIXEIRA GARCIA | Advisor * |
Summary: The Brazilian mental health policy proposes the organization of a full care network composed of instruments to provide psychosocial care to people with mental disorders. Each municipality should structure a group of actions to respond to the mental health demands and guarantee a local or regional referential service network. Of the 78 municipalities in the state, 43 are small-sized, and 21 of these have mental health services. The main aim is to identify the implementation of mental health policies in small-sized municipalities in the state of Espírito Santo. A qualitative study comprising documental research and group interview (focus group) was carried out. The focus groups included mental health and family health teams who work in small-sized municipalities that claimed to offer basic care services to people with mental disorders. The data were analyzed through the discourse analysis technique. The findings show that most of the study municipalities lack a structured mental health care service in compliance with the national mental health policy guidelines. We found psychiatric and psychology technicians working under a productivity regime and regular attendance (once a week/month/every two weeks), often fully booked and with little or no articulation with the ESF (Family Health Team). The practices focusing on individual care and referrals prevailed. We found out that the decentralization process of mental health policies provided Espírito Santo municipalities neither with a homogeneous community and regional-based health project nor with defined mental health funds in the health budget. We concluded that building and sustaining a mental health care network is a task to be carried out in the state of Espírito Santo, as well as eliminating Santa Isabel Clinics actions the way they are currently performed in the study municipalities.
